The Nuclear Law Collection; Physical Protections of Nuclear Materials

For many years the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assisted Member States, at their request, in developing their domestic legal arrangements for regulating the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and ionizing radiation, as mandated by the IAEA’s Statute. With the expansion of the uses of nuclear techniques in a variety of fields, more States have come to realize that a well structured legal framework is necessary for meeting the technical and management requirements designed to protect public health, safety and the environment. As a result, the IAEA has received an increasing number of requests from Member States for assistance in drafting or reviewing their nuclear laws. For this reason, it was felt that a reference book on nuclear law could be useful in helping legislators, government officials, technical experts, lawyers, diplomats, users of nuclear technology, the media and the public of Member States to understand these requirements. The primary audience for this book is expected to be persons in States with a less developed nuclear legislative framework who may be involved or interested in the development of a new law covering nuclear activities. A secondary audience would be persons in States interested in revising or consolidating existing laws so as to make them more consistent and efficient, or persons wishing to add legislation in a technical area (or technical areas) in which recent activity has revealed a deficiency in legal arrangements. Also, this book may be of interest to governments that wish to conform their national legislation to international instruments in the nuclear field. Even States with well developed legal structures may find some benefit in using this book as a means of confirming that all necessary legal issues in the nuclear area have been covered, or at least considered, in the framing of their legislation. In addition, it is expected that this book will be useful for teaching nuclear law, at academic institutions and in technical assistance programmes of the IAEA and of other relevant bodies, both international and national.