Handbook on Nuclear Law: Implementing Legislation

In 2003, the IAEA published the Handbook on Nuclear Law (the 2003 Handbook), which emphasized that the safe and peaceful uses of nuclear energy in any State can only be ensured with the promulgation and implementation of an effective national legal framework to govern this technology. The IAEA has long been involved in providing assistance to its Member States in developing these frameworks, and demand for such assistance has increased dramatically. Since publication of the 2003 Handbook, requests for IAEA legislative assistance have - if anything - been even more numerous, in large part due to the fact that over sixty Member States that currently do not utilize nuclear energy for the production of electrical power have recently expressed interest in pursuing this option. The current nuclear laws in many of these States are limited to non-power uses of ionizing radiation, such as those utilizing radiation sources for medical, agricultural and industrial purposes. If these States move toward nuclear power development, they will need to adopt legislation consistent with the various relevant international legal instruments covering the field (such as the Convention on Nuclear Safety and the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, among others) and with relevant voluntary guidance documents developed under the aegis of the IAEA. The 2003 Handbook has already made an important contribution to enhancing national capabilities to develop the necessary legal frameworks by setting out the general scheme of nuclear law. However, a number of important developments in nuclear law have occurred since its publication. These developments are discussed in the present volume. Also, over the past six years, representatives of many Member States receiving IAEA legislative assistance have suggested that it would be valuable to develop model texts of legislative provisions covering the key elements needed in a national nuclear law. The present volume provides such model texts, recognizing that they provide only a starting point and basic outline of necessary provisions that will need to be shaped to be consistent with each State's national approach to legislative drafting, cultural and social norms, economic structure, and the nature of its nuclear programme. It contains the most up to date and comprehensive guidance for Member States in enhancing their legal and regulatory frameworks for nuclear energy development