§ Mr. David AtkinsonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade when the international convention on nuclear safety will enter into force. [871]
§ Mr. PageThe convention on nuclear safety entered into force yesterday, 24 October, just over two years after being opened for signature at the International Atomic Energy Agency general conference in September 1994. The principal objective of the convention is to encourage best practice in the safe regulation, design and operation of civil nuclear power plants. States party to the convention will submit national reports, for discussion at periodic review meetings, on how they meet safety obligations established in the convention.
The United Kingdom ratified the convention on 17 January this year. Seventeen nuclear states and eight states without civil nuclear power plants have now ratified the convention. The speed of entry into force of the convention is a considerable achievement by the international community. It demonstrates the importance, underlined in the declaration of the Moscow summit in April this year, that many states attach to achieving high standards of nuclear safety worldwide.