IAEA International Law Series

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

IAEA International Law Series No. 1

This publication brings together in a more convenient format the official records and other relevant documents relating to the negotiations of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management.

The Convention applies to spent fuel and radioactive waste resulting from civilian nuclear reactors and applications and to spent fuel and radioactive waste from military or defence programmes if and when such materials are transferred permanently to and managed within exclusively civilian programmes, or when declared as spent fuel or radioactive waste for the purpose of the Convention. The Convention also applies to planned and controlled releases into the environment of liquid or gaseous radioactive materials from related nuclear facilities.

The Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, the first legal instrument to directly address these issues on a global scale, entered into force on 18 June 2001.