Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (Joint Convention)
Ongoing

The Joint Convention is an incentive convention that aims to, inter alia, achieve and a high level of safety worldwide in spent fuel and radioactive waste management, through the enhancement of national measures and international co-operation, including where appropriate, safety-related technical co-operation.

  • Adopted: 5 September 1997
  • Opened for signature: 29 September 1997
  • Entered into force: 18 June 2001
  • Parties: 92 parties (including EURATOM) (see table below)

More information on the Joint Convention, including the text and current status, is available here.

The following articles related to the Joint Convention were published in the Nuclear Law Bulletin and Principles and Practice of International Nuclear Law:

  • The Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, by W. Tonhauser and O. Jankowitsch (NLB 60, p. 9).
  • The IAEA Nuclear Safety Conventions: An example of Successful "Treaty Management", by G. Handl (NLB 72, p. 7).
  • The Safety Regime Concerning Transboundary Movement of Radioactive Waste and its Compatibility with the Trade Regime of the WTO, by L. Strack (NLB 73, p. 25).
  • Observations on the first Review Meeting of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, by G. Linsley (NLB 74, p. 81). 
  • Inside nuclear baseball: Reflections on the development of the safety conventions, by C. Stoiber (NLB 100, p. 61).
  • The impact of the major nuclear power plant accidents on the international legal framework for nuclear power, by S.G. Burns (NLB 101, p. 7) (updated in Principles and Practice of International Nuclear Law, p. 83).
  • The modern nuclear liability regime’s concept of “environmental damage”: How national courts may apply it and what remedies they may provide for such damage, by S. Knopp Pisi (NLB 111, p. 23).
  • Nuclear fusion: Legal Aspects, by W. Tonhauser and K. T. Olajos (NLB 111, p. 57).
  • Atoms for Peace in a time of international conflict: Assessing the legal situation of nuclear power plants under belligerent occupation, by E. Buis (NLB 112, p. 7).
  • A legal analysis for a future regulatory framework for fusion energy in Japan, by T. Kimura (NLB 112, p. 79).
  • International legal framework on nuclear safety: Developments, challenges and opportunities, by W. Tonhauser, A. Wetherall and L. Thiele (Principles and Practice of International Nuclear Law, p. 121).

 

Parties to the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management

Albania Eritrea Lithuania Rwanda
Argentina* Estonia Luxembourg Saudi Arabia
Armenia* Finland* Madagascar Senegal
Australia France* Malawi Serbia
Austria Gabon Malta Slovak Republic*
Bangladesh Georgia Mauritania Slovenia*
Belarus* Germany Mauritius South Africa*
Belgium* Ghana Mexico* Spain*
Benin Greece Moldova Sweden*
Bolivia Hungary* Montenegro Switzerland*
Bosnia and Herzegovina Iceland Morocco Syrian Arab Republic
Botswana Indonesia Netherlands* Tajikistan
Brazil* Iraq Niger Thailand
Bulgaria* Ireland Nigeria Türkiye
Canada* Italy North Macedonia Ukraine*
Chile Japan* Norway United Arab Emirates*
China* Jordan Oman United Kingdom*
Congo Kazakhstan Paraguay United States*
Croatia Korea* Peru Uruguay
Cuba Kyrgyzstan Poland Uzbekistan
Cyprus Latvia Portugal Viet Nam
Czechia* Lebanon Romania* Zimbabwe
Denmark Lesotho Russia* EURATOM

* Country with at least one nuclear power plant in operation.