The International Legal Regime Of The Nuclear Safety Research

Nowadays, it is deficient in energy resources in the world. There are clear signs of renewed interest in the nuclear power option. Around the world there are plans for both new and reinvigorated nuclear power development and other uses of nuclear technology. Compared with conventional sources of energy such as coal or petroleum, nuclear energy is environment-friendly, which is more likely to satisfy the development of the society in a safe and clean way.In the meantime, "Atoms for Peace" also pose radioactive challenges to the world. Therefore, safety problems are crucial, especially in the process of utilization of nuclear energy. That is to say, even though the use of nuclear is helpful to get rid of energy crises, assurance of nuclear safety remains and will be necessarily the focus in the nuclear industry. As nuclear safety problems occur and gradually evolve, international legal mechanism of nuclear safety is being set up, which is also influenced greatly by international politics, development of science and technology, and the scale of civil nuclear industry.In spite of the introduction and conclusion, the thesis is divided into four parts.The first part mainly defines what "nuclear safety" is, and then distinguished it from "nuclear security". It also explicates the necessity and feasibility of application in international law in the field of nuclear safety in the same part. "Safety" means measures intended to minimize the likelihood of accidents with radiation sources and, should such an accident occur, to mitigate its consequences. "Security" means measures to prevent unauthorized access to, and loss, theft and unauthorized transfer of, radioactive sources. Obviously, nuclear safety in the thesis refers to the former, and the thesis will focus on it. It is intrinsically necessary that nuclear problems should be adjusted by international law. Answers can be found from the inner characteristics, outer traits and seriousness of the consequence of nuclear problems. The internationality of safety problems determines internationality of the solutions to the problems. Nuclear community is always ready to appeal to international law to solve nuclear safety problems. The second part introduces the main part of international legal mechanism of nuclear safety. The core of the mechanism is the conventions in the field of nuclear safety, which were organized to sign by IAEA. Besides conventions in the field of nuclear safety, terms in conventions or treaties related to nuclear safety and some specific environmental protection conventions, international legal mechanism of nuclear safety contains other legal documents made by international organizations. International organizations, such as IAEA, contribute much to the origin, development and improvement of international nuclear safety law. They work as specialized organizations, thus, they themselves are also indispensable parts of the international legal mechanism of nuclear safety. The IAEA's work has set the framework for cooperative efforts to build and strengthen an international safety and security regime. This framework includes advisory international standards, codes, and guides; binding international conventions; international peer reviews to evaluate national operations, capabilities, and infrastructures; and an international system of emergency preparedness and response. Therefore, conventions, other important legal documents and international organizations primarily compose the whole international legal mechanism of nuclear safety. Although they respectively regulate various sections of nuclear safety, they aim to maintain the sustainable international legal mechanism of nuclear safety and to ensure a safe nuclear environment.The third part evaluates the international legal mechanism of nuclear safety. To begin with, it summarizes the achievements made by the mechanism. The mechanism keeps the international legal system integral and healthy, coordinates the inner parts of the international legal mechanism of nuclear safety, and serves as a tool for information sharing and mutual learning on good policies and practices that can be used to reach harmonization step by step. Furthermore, it points out the shortcomings or challenges exposed by the mechanism. One of the shortcomings is inadequacy of consistency, harmony and integrality of the international legal documents in the mechanism. Another one is that the mechanism cannot adapt itself to the newly-emergent nuclear technologies. Speculations are somewhat principled and abstract. In the practice, more concrete and precise regulations are needed. In the existing mechanism, the procedure of transnational shipment of nuclear materials or waste is not stipulated very well. Finally, it predicts the trend for development of the legal system. In the future, there is the need for operators, users and regulatory bodies to communicate with the public effectively and in an open and transparent manner. There is a continuing trend of considering nuclear safety matters with a holistic view that takes into account all factors and considers the entire life cycle of the nuclear and radioactive material. The mechanism needs to take advantage of modern communication and information processing technologies, as well as of the relating international cooperative efforts and capabilities.The fourth part pays attention to Chinese legislation on nuclear safety. First of all, it analyzes situations of nuclear safety speculations in China and points out the demerits in Chinese nuclear safety law-making. And then, aiming at solving problems mentioned above, it specifies the measures that China should take.The comprehensive study of international legal system of nuclear safety is rare both at home and abroad. Most of study on this field is scattered in textbooks on international environment law, such as international environment law written by Alexandre Kiss. Therefore, it is essential to make a comprehensive and systematic study on the international legal mechanism of nuclear safety. To some extent, the originality of the thesis lies in the integrity and completeness of depicting the whole system.The thesis adopts several methods to develop. To begin with, the thesis inherits the precedent ideas and studies, and makes the study on the basis of them in a historic view. Moreover, it expounds different conventions and other legal documents during the same or relating system in a comparative way. Finally, on the basis of historic view and comparison, the thesis tries to eliminate the false and to retain the true so that it can get its own conclusion.