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• Nuclear Safety Contacts

Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS)

The Convention on Nuclear Safety came into force in the Autumn of 1996 when 22 countries from around the world ratified, including 17 with nuclear power plants. (The UK had ratified in 1995.) The Convention aims, through a triennial process of a report, questioning and peer review at an international meeting, to assist in the continual process of raising standards of civil nuclear safety world-wide.

Contracting Parties with operational nuclear power stations, like the UK, are obliged to provide a detailed written report explaining how they fulfil the Articles of the Convention relating to e.g. their legislative and regulatory framework for nuclear safety, financial and human resources for nuclear safety, assessment and verification, radiation protection, emergency preparedness and details of their procedures for siting, design and construction and operation of civil nuclear power plants. The first Peer Review meeting under the terms of the Convention was held in Vienna in April 1999.

The UK's first report was submitted as required six months prior to the meeting, the third report was published in 2004 and the fourth report in 2007.