prop · GL03145D2 · 1998-01-01 00:00:00 — Article 15 Assessment of Safety of Facilities Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to ensure that: (i) before construction of a radioactive waste management facility, a systematic safety assessment and an environmental assessment appropriate to the hazard presented by the facility and covering its operating lifetime shall be carried out; (ii) in addition, before construction of a disposal facility, a systematic safety assessment and an environmental assessment for the period following closure shall be carried out and the results evaluated against the criteria established by the regulatory body; (iii) before the operation of a radioactive waste management facility, updated and detailed versions of the safety assessment and of the environmental assessment shall be prepared when deemed necessary to complement the assessments referred to in paragraph (i). Article 16 Operation of Facilities Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to ensure that: (i) the licence to operate a radioactive waste management facility is based upon appropriate assessments as specified in Article 15 and is conditional on the completion of a commissioning programme demonstrating that the facility, as constructed, is consistent with design and safety requirements; (ii) operational limits and conditions, derived from tests, operational experience and the assessments as specified in Article 15 are defined and revised as necessary; (iii) operation, maintenance, monitoring, inspection and testing of a radioactive waste management facility are conducted in accordance with established procedures. For a disposal facility the results thus obtained shall be used to verify and to review the validity of assumptions made and to update the assessments as specified in Article 15 for the period after closure; (iv) and technical support in all safety-related fields are available throughout the operating lifetime of a radioactive waste management facility; (v) procedures for characterization and segregation of radioactive waste are applied; (vi) incidents significant to safety are reported in a timely by the holder of the licence to the regulatory body; (vii) programmes to collect and analyse relevant operating experience are established and that the results are acted upon, where appropriate; (viii) decommissioning plans for a radioactive waste management facility other than a disposal facility are prepared and updated, as necessary, using information obtained during the operating lifetime of that facility, and are reviewed by the regulatory body; (ix) plans for the closure of a disposal facility are prepared and updated, as necessary, using information obtained during the operating lifetime of that facility and are reviewed by the regulatory body. Article 17 Institutional Measures after Closure Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to ensure that after closure of a disposal facility: (i) records of the location, design and inventory of that facility required by the regulatory body are preserved; (ii) or passive institutional controls such as monitoring or access restrictions are carried out, if required; and (iii) if, during any period of institutional control, an unplanned release of radioactive materials into the environment is detected, intervention measures are implemented, if necessary. Article 18 Implementing Measures Each Contracting Party shall take, within the framework of its national law, the legislative, regulatory and administrative measures and other steps necessary for implementing its obligations under this Convention. Article 19 Legislative and Regulatory Framework Each Contracting Party shall establish and maintain a legislative and regulatory framework to govern the safety of spent fuel and radioactive waste management. This legislative and regulatory framework shall provide for: (i) the of applicable national safety requirements and regulations for radiation safety; (ii) a system of licensing of spent fuel and radioactive waste management activities; (iii) a system of prohibition of the operation of a spent fuel or radioactive waste management facility without a licence; (iv) a system of appropriate institutional control, regulatory inspection and documentation and reporting; (v) the enforcement of applicable regulations and of the terms of the licences; (vi) a clear allocation of responsibilities of the bodies involved in the different steps of spent fuel and of radioactive waste management. When considering whether to regulate radioactive materials as radioactive waste, Contracting Parties shall take due account of the objectives of this Convention. Article 20 Regulatory Body Each Contracting Party shall establish or designate a regulatory body entrusted with the implementation of the legislative and regulatory framework referred to in Article 19, and provided with adequate authority, competence and financial and human resources to fulfill its assigned responsibilities. Each Contracting Party, in accordance with its legislative and regulatory framework, shall take the appropriate steps to ensure the effective independence of the regulatory functions from other functions where organizations are involved in both spent fuel or radioactive waste management and in their regulation. Article 21 Responsibility of the License Holder Each Contracting Party shall ensure that prime responsibility for the safety of spent fuel or radioactive waste management rests with the holder of the relevant licence and shall take the appropriate steps to ensure that each such licence holder meets its responsibility. If there is no such licence holder or other responsible party, the responsibility rests with the Contracting Party which has jurisdiction over the spent fuel or over the radioactive waste. Article 22 Human and Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to ensure that: (i) qualified staff are available as needed for safety-related activities during the operating lifetime of a spent fuel and a radioactive waste management facility; (ii) adequate financial resources are available to support the safety of facilities for spent fuel and radioactive waste management during their operating lifetime and for decommissioning; (iii) financial provision is made which will enable the appropriate institutional controls and monitoring arrangements to be continued for the period deemed necessary following the closure of a disposal facility. Each Contracting Party shall take the necessary steps to ensure that appropriate quality programmes concerning the safety of spent fuel and radioactive waste management are established and implemented. Article 24 Operational Radiation Protection Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to ensure that during the operating lifetime of a spent fuel or radioactive waste management facility: (i) the radiation exposure of the workers and the public caused by the facility shall be kept as low as reasonably achievable, economic and social factors being taken into account; (ii) no individual shall be exposed, in normal situations, to radiation doses which exceed national prescriptions for dose limitation which have due regard to internationally endorsed standards on radiation protection; and (iii) measures are taken to prevent unplanned and uncontrolled releases of radioactive materials into the environment. Each Contracting Party shall take appropriate steps to ensure that discharges shall be limited: (i) to keep exposure to radiation as low as reasonably achievable, economic and social factors being taken into account; and (ii) so that no individual shall be exposed, in normal situations, to radiation doses which exceed national prescriptions for dose limitation which have due regard to internationally endorsed standards on radiation protection. Each Contracting Party shall take appropriate steps to ensure that during the operating lifetime of a regulated nuclear facility, in the event that an unplanned or uncontrolled release of radioactive materials into the environment occurs, appropriate corrective measures are implemented to control the release and mitigate its effects. Article 25 Emergency Preparedness Each Contracting Party shall ensure that before and during operation of a spent fuel or radioactive waste management facility there are appropriate on-site and, if necessary, off-site emergency plans. Such emergency plans should be tested at an appropriate frequency. Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps for the preparation and testing of emergency plans for its territory insofar as it is likely to be affected in the event of a radiological emergency at a spent fuel or radioactive waste management facility in the vicinity of its territory. Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to ensure the safety of decommissioning of a nuclear facility. Such steps shall ensure that: (i) qualified staff and adequate financial resources are available; (ii) the provisions of Article 24 with respect to operational radiation protection, discharges and unplanned and uncontrolled releases are applied; (iii) the provisions of Article 25 with respect to emergency preparedness are applied; and (iv) records of information important to decommissioning are kept. Article 27 Transboundary Movement Each Contracting Party involved in transboundary movement shall take the appropriate steps to ensure that such movement is undertaken in a consistent with the provisions of this Convention and relevant binding international instruments. In so doing: (i) a Contracting Party which is a State of origin shall take the appropriate steps to ensure that transboundary movement is authorized and takes place only with the prior notification and consent of the State of destination; (ii) transboundary movement through States of transit shall be subject to those international obligations which are relevant to the particular modes of transport utilized; (iii) a Contracting Party which is a State of destination shall consent to a transboundary movement only if it has the administrative and technical capacity, as well as the regulatory structure, needed to manage the spent fuel or the radioactive waste in a consistent with this Convention; (iv) a Contracting Party which is a State of origin shall authorize a transboundary movement only if it can satisfy itself in accordance with the consent of the State of destination that the requirements of subparagraph (iii) are met prior to transboundary movement; (v) a Contracting Party which is a State of origin shall take the appropriate steps to permit re-entry into its territory, if a transboundary movement is not or cannot be completed in conformity with this Article, unless an alternative safe arrangement can be made. A Contracting Party shall not licence the shipment of its spent fuel or radioactive waste to a destination south of latitude 60 degrees South for storage or disposal. Nothing in this Convention prejudices or affects: (i) the exercise, by ships and aircraft of all States, of , river and air navigation rights and freedoms, as provided for in international law; (ii) rights of a Contracting Party to which radioactive waste is exported for processing to return, or provide for the return of, the radioactive waste and other products after treatment to the State of origin; (iii) the right of a Contracting Party to export its spent fuel for reprocessing; (iv) rights of a Contracting Party to which spent fuel is exported for reprocessing to return, or provide for the return of, radioactive waste and other products resulting from reprocessing operations to the State of origin. Article 28 Disused Sealed Sources Each Contracting Party shall, in the framework of its national law, take the appropriate steps to ensure that the possession, remanufacturing or disposal of disused sealed sources takes place in a safe . A Contracting Party shall allow for reentry into its territory of disused sealed sources if, in the framework of its national law, it has accepted that they be returned to a manufacturer qualified to receive and possess the disused sealed sources. MEETINGS OF THE CONTRACTING PARTIES Article 29 Preparatory Meeting A preparatory meeting of the Contracting Parties shall be held not later than six months after the date of entry into force of this Convention. At this meeting, the Contracting Parties shall: (i) determine the date for the first review meeting as referred to in Article 30. This review meeting shall be held as soon as possible, but not later than thirty months after the date of entry into force of this Convention; (ii) prepare and adopt by consensus Rules of Procedure and Financial Rules; (iii) establish in particular and in accordance with the Rules of Procedure: (a) guidelines regarding the form and structure of the national reports to be submitted pursuant to Article 32; (b) a date for the submission of such reports; (c) the process for reviewing such reports. or regional organization of an integration or other nature which ratifies, accepts, approves, accedes to or confirms this Convention and for which the Convention is not yet in force, may attend the preparatory meeting as if it were a Party to this Convention. Article 30 Review Meetings The Contracting Parties shall hold meetings for the purpose of reviewing the reports submitted pursuant to Article 32. At each review meeting the Contracting Parties: (i) shall determine the date for the next such meeting, the interval between review meetings not exceeding three years; (ii) may review the arrangements established pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 29, and adopt revisions by consensus unless otherwise provided for in the Rules of Procedure. They may also amend the Rules of Procedure and Financial Rules by consensus. At each review meeting each Contracting Party shall have a reasonable opportunity to discuss the reports submitted by other Contracting Parties and to seek clarification of such reports. Article 31 Extraordinary Meetings An extraordinary meeting of the Contracting Parties shall be held: (i) if so agreed by a majority of the Contracting Parties present and voting at a meeting; or (ii) at the written request of a Contracting Party, within six months of this request having been communicated to the Contracting Parties and notification having been received by the secretariat referred to in Article 37 that the request has been supported by a majority of the Contracting Parties. In accordance with the provisions of Article 30, each Contracting Party shall submit a national report to each review meeting of Contracting Parties. This report shall address the measures taken to implement each of the obligations of the Convention. For each Contracting Party the report shall also address its: (i) spent fuel management policy; (ii) spent fuel management practices; (iii) radioactive waste management policy; (iv) radioactive waste management practices; (v) criteria used to define and categorize radioactive waste. This report shall also include: (i) a list of the spent fuel management facilities subject to this Convention, their location, main purpose and essential features; (ii) an inventory of spent fuel that is subject to this Convention and that is being held in storage and of that which has been disposed of. This inventory shall contain a description of the material and, if available, give information on its mass and its total activity; (iii) a list of the radioactive waste management facilities subject to this Convention, their location, main purpose and essential features; (iv) an inventory of radioactive waste that is subject to this Convention that: (a) is being held in storage at radioactive waste management and nuclear fuel cycle facilities; (b) has been disposed of; or (c) has resulted from past practices. This inventory shall contain a description of the material and other appropriate information available, such as volume or mass, activity and specific radionuclides; (v) a list of nuclear facilities in the process of being decommissioned and the status of decommissioning activities at those facilities. Each Contracting Party shall attend meetings of the Contracting Parties and be represented at such meetings by one delegate, and by such alternates, experts and advisers as it deems necessary. The Contracting Parties may invite, by consensus, any intergovernmental organization which is competent in respect of matters governed by this Convention to attend, as an , any meeting, or specific sessions thereof. shall be required to accept in writing, and in advance, the provisions of Article 36. Article 34 Summary Reports The Contracting Parties shall adopt, by consensus, and make available to the public a document addressing issues discussed and conclusions reached during meetings of the Contracting Parties. The languages of meetings of the Contracting Parties shall be Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish unless otherwise provided in the Rules of Procedure. Reports submitted pursuant to Article 32 shall be prepared in the national language of the submitting Contracting Party or in a single designated language to be agreed in the Rules of Procedure. Should the report be submitted in a national language other than the designated language, a translation of the report into the designated language shall be provided by the Contracting Party. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, the secretariat, if compensated, will assume the translation of reports submitted in any other language of the meeting into the designated language. The provisions of this Convention shall not affect the rights and obligations of the Contracting Parties under their laws to protect information from disclosure. For the purposes of this article, "information" includes, inter alia, information relating to national security or to the physical protection of nuclear materials, information protected by intellectual property rights or by industrial or commercial confidentiality, and personal data. When, in the context of this Convention, a Contracting Party provides information identified by it as protected as described in paragraph 1, such information shall be used only for the purposes for which it has been provided and its confidentiality shall be respected. With respect to information relating to spent fuel or radioactive waste falling within the scope of this Convention by virtue of paragraph 3 of Article 3, the provisions of this Convention shall not affect the exclusive discretion of the Contracting Party concerned to decide: (i) whether such information is classified or otherwise controlled to preclude release; (ii) whether to provide information referred to in sub-paragraph (i) above in the context of the Convention; and (iii) what conditions of confidentiality are attached to such information if it is provided in the context of this Convention. The content of the debates during the reviewing of the national reports at each review meeting held pursuant to Article 30 shall be confidential. , (hereinafter referred to as "the Agency") shall provide the secretariat for the meetings of the Contracting Parties. The secretariat shall: (i) convene, prepare and service the meetings of the Contracting Parties referred to in Articles 29, 30 and 31; (ii) transmit to the Contracting Parties information received or prepared in accordance with the provisions of this Convention. The costs incurred by the Agency in carrying out the functions referred to in sub-paragraphs (i) and (ii) above shall be borne by the Agency as part of its regular budget. The Contracting Parties may, by consensus, request the Agency to provide other services in support of meetings of the Contracting Parties. may provide such services if they can be undertaken within its programme and regular budget. Should this not be possible, the Agency may provide such services if voluntary funding is provided from another source. Article 38 Resolution of Disagreements In the event of a disagreement between two or more Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention, the Contracting Parties shall consult within the framework of a meeting of the Contracting Parties with a view to resolving the disagreement. In the event that the consultations prove unproductive, recourse can be made to the mediation, conciliation and arbitration mechanisms provided for in international law, including the rules and practices prevailing within the . Article 39 Signature, Ratification, Acceptance, Approval, Accession This Convention shall be open for signature by all States at the Headquarters of the Agency in from until its entry into force. This Convention is subject to ratification, acceptance or approval by the signatory States. After its entry into force, this Convention shall be open for accession by all States. (i) This Convention shall be open for signature subject to confirmation, or accession by regional organizations of an integration or other nature, provided that any such organization is constituted by sovereign States and has competence in respect of the negotiation, conclusion and application of international agreements in matters covered by this Convention. (ii) In matters within their competence, such organizations shall, on their own behalf, exercise the rights and fulfil the responsibilities which this Convention attributes to States Parties. (iii) When becoming party to this Convention, such an organization shall communicate to the Depositary referred to in Article 43, a declaration indicating which States are members thereof, which Articles of this Convention apply to it, and the extent of its competence in the field covered by those articles. (iv) Such an organization shall not hold any vote additional to those of its Member States. Instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval, accession or confirmation shall be deposited with the Depositary. Article 40 Entry into Force This Convention shall enter into force on the ninetieth day after the date of deposit with the Depositary of the twenty-fifth instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval, including the instruments of fifteen States each having an operational nuclear power plant. For each State or regional organization of an integration or other nature which ratifies, accepts, approves, accedes to or confirms this Convention after the date of deposit of the last instrument required to satisfy the conditions set forth in paragraph 1, this Convention shall enter into force on the ninetieth day after the date of deposit with the Depositary of the appropriate instrument by such a State or organization. Article 41 Amendments to the Convention may propose an amendment to this Convention. Proposed amendments shall be considered at a review meeting or at an extraordinary meeting. The text of any proposed amendment and the reasons for it shall be provided to the Depositary who shall communicate the proposal to the Contracting Parties at least ninety days before the meeting for which it is submitted for consideration. comments received on such a proposal shall be circulated by the Depositary to the Contracting Parties. The Contracting Parties shall decide after consideration of the proposed amendment whether to adopt it by consensus, or, in the absence of consensus, to submit it to a Diplomatic Conference. A decision to submit a proposed amendment to a Diplomatic Conference shall require a two-thirds majority vote of the Contracting Parties present and voting at the meeting, provided that at least one half of the Contracting Parties are present at the time of voting. to consider and adopt amendments to this Convention shall be convened by the Depositary and held no later than one year after the appropriate decision taken in accordance with paragraph 3 of this article.