[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 78 (Thursday, May 11, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6562-S6563]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




REMOVAL OF INJUNCTION OF SECRECY--CONVENTION ON NUCLEAR SAFETY (TREATY 
                          DOCUMENT NO. 104-6)

  Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
injunction of secrecy be removed from the Convention of Nuclear Safety, 
Treaty Document Number 104-6, transmitted to the Senate by the 
President today; and the treaty considered as having been read the 
first time; referred, with accompanying papers, to the Committee on 
Foreign Relations and ordered to be printed; and ordered that the 
President's message be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The message of the President is as follows:

To the Senate of the United States:
  I transmit herewith, for Senate advice and consent to ratification, 
the Convention on Nuclear Safety done at Vienna on September 20, 1994. 
This Convention was adopted by a Diplomatic Conference convened by the 
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in June 1994 and was opened 
for signature in Vienna on September 20, 1994, during the IAEA General 
Conference. Secretary of Energy O'Leary signed the Convention for the 
United States on that date. Also transmitted for the information of the 
Senate is the report of the Department of State concerning the 
Convention.
  At the September 1991 General Conference of the IAEA, a resolution 
was adopted, with U.S. support, calling for the IAEA secretariat to 
develop elements for a possible International Convention on Nuclear 
Safety. From 1992 to 1994, the IAEA convened seven expert working group 
meetings, in which the United States participated. The IAEA Board of 
Governors approved a draft text at its meeting in February 1994, after 
which the IAEA convened a Diplomatic Conference attended by 
representatives of more than 80 countries in June 1994. The final text 
of the Convention resulted from that Conference.
  The Convention establishes a legal obligation on the part of Parties 
to apply certain general safety principles to the construction, 
operation, and regulation of land-based civilian nuclear power plants 
under their jurisdiction. Parties to the Convention also agree to 
submit periodic reports on the steps they are taking to implement the 
obligations of the Convention. These reports will be reviewed and 
discussed at review meetings of the Parties, at 
[[Page S6563]] which each Party will have an opportunity to discuss and 
seek clarification of reports submitted by other Parties.
  The United States has initiated many steps to deal with nuclear 
safety, and has supported the effort to develop this Convention. With 
its obligatory reporting and review procedures, requiring Parties to 
demonstrate in international meetings how they are complying with 
safety principles, the Convention should encourage countries to improve 
nuclear safety domestically and thus result in an increase in nuclear 
safety worldwide. I urge the Senate to act expeditiously in giving its 
advice and consent to ratification.
                                                  William J. Clinton.  
  The White House, May 11, 1995.
  

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