Introduction to the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management and Canada's Participation

Abstract

The Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (Joint Convention) is the first and the only legally binding international instrument to address safety issues concerning the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste on a global scale. It entered into force on June 18, 2001. The Government of Canada strongly supported international efforts to bring into force the Joint Convention and was the second country to ratify it.

The Joint Convention is an "incentive instrument" that is based on peer review (similar in that respect to the Convention on Nuclear Safety) and devised to encourage countries that are Contracting Parties to report and to foster open and frank discussions on the safety of spent fuel and radioactive waste management. Being an incentive convention, it is not designed to mandate Contracting Parties to fulfill its obligation through control and sanction, but it is based on the common objectives of Contracting Parties to achieve and maintain a high level of safety in spent fuel and radioactive waste management, protect individuals, society and the environment from ionizing radiation and prevent accidents and if necessary mitigating the consequences of such accidents.

The following paper will provide an introduction to the Joint Convention and provide a summary of Canada's peer review at the most recent Review Meeting which was held on May 11-20, 2009, at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria.