The Analysis On Nuclear Safety Legal System

Since Antoine Henri Becquerel, the French physicist, discovered the radioactivity of uranium in 1896, scientists in different countries have dedicated to the exploitation and utilization of nuclear energy. The first man-made nuclear reactor was run in 1942, which means the human being stepped into the Nuclear Age. After a period of rapid development from the 1970s to the 1980s, the development of nuclear energy was in stagnation with diversified reasons. In recent years, many countries center their attention on the important energy to satisfy the vast energy requirement and mitigate the serious pressure from environment. At present, nuclear energy has been applied broadly in many fields such as nuclear plants, medical treatment, agriculture, military affairs, and it will have more important procession in the future.Compared with conventional energy such as coal and petroleum, nuclear energy is kind to environment with the characteristic of density, cleanness, safety, and economic. However, the utilization of nuclear energy is followed with the risk of damaging to environment including radioactive pollution, nuclear accident and nuclear weapons.The international organizations of which the IAEA takes the lead play an important role in safe and peaceful utilization of nuclear. International treaties and conventions are key parts of the whole nuclear safety legal system, which are in four parts: 1. the treaties on radioactivity management, 2. treaties on prohibition and restriction of nuclear weapons, 3. treaties on prevention and refrain of nuclear terrorism, 4.treaties on nuclear damage responsibility. The treaties and conventions embody the principle of sustainable development. At the same time, the treaties and conventions can't be adapted to the further development of nuclear with different restrictions as the following: 1. lack of enough force, 2. more fundamental, less concretely, 3.ambiguity of damage liability, 4.insufficiency of international co-operation. In order to strengthen the nuclear safety, all the countries should enhance the co-operation and surveillance under the continuous exertion of the IAEA, increase nation's responsibility and consummate the international legislation in existence.