In opening this conference let me sketch the background to our deliberations.

The vision of sustainable development, of combining environmental goals with improved living standards worldwide, must inevitably address the issue of expanded and sustainable sources of energy, especially electricity.

Nuclear energy can make an important contribution. Assurance of safety, alongside assurances of exclusively peaceful use, remain fundamental prerequisites for the future reliance on nuclear power as an attractive option for meeting the growing global demand for energy. These two elements are recognized in the Statute of the IAEA as well as in the national laws of many States. However, there are important differences in the allocation of responsibilities for these two areas between the international community and national authorities - safety having long been a predominantly national concern, while the commitments to an exclusively peaceful use has been, even before the establishment of the IAEA, an intensely international concern. As a result of this concern, a strong and complex network of international, regional and bilateral agreements has gradually been established of binding commitments to the exclusively peaceful use of nuclear energy and to international control and verification. States have accepted to be individually bound within a unique system of bilateral verification agreements concluded with the Agency - the Safeguards Agreements. States choose or do not choose to commit themselves to non-proliferation, but once they have bound themselves by treaty the international system has strong and well defined measures for verification.

International safety norms

On the other hand the safe use of nuclear, as of other forms of energy, remains essentially a national responsibility. As defined in the fundamental principles contained in the draft Nuclear Safety Convention before this Conference: "the responsibility for nuclear safety rests with the State where a nuclear installation is located". Nevertheless international efforts in the area of safety have come increasingly to recognize the interdependence of all participants in the nuclear fuel cycle. An accident anywhere has the potential for direct transboundary radiation consequences and has global ramifications in terms of public confidence in nuclear power as a major energy source.

While it is possible to talk of an international nuclear safety "regime" it is, in contrast to the non proliferation regime, not essentially based on international treaties. The conventions on Physical Protection, on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident and on Emergency Assistance, and the two Conventions on liability (now linked by a Joint Protocol) relate to the potential international safety and economic impact of national nuclear activities, and are certainly part of a growing international legal infrastructure. However, they do not fundamentally alter the balance between national and international responsibilities. The same holds true for most regional and bilateral arrangements which have been developed to meet particular needs.

Nevertheless, in many important aspects of safety States have found it appropriate to co-operate first to harmonize national rules, by the concerted development and by adopting codes and guidelines of a recommendatory nature, and by accepting international standards and, second, more recently and just as importantly, by increasing their readiness and openness to international review and advice.

Some of the codes and guidelines have been in existence for many years and have been updated and reviewed as necessary - as, for instance the IAEA Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material; others such as the Code of Practice on the International Transboundary Movement of Radioactive Waste have been adopted more recently in response to new concerns. Internationally adopted codes and guidelines have, in some cases, been used by countries as the basis for national laws and regulations; in other cases, national rules of States have served as a common denominator to establish an international standard.

A practical advantage of such codes and guidelines over formal treaties has been that the former can take effect without the need for what can be lengthy ratification procedures. Also, as they often involve codifying "best practice" they have the potential for broad based adherence.

In the area of international review and advice the IAEA has had a leading, but not exclusive, role. Let me welcome and encourage the contributions in this area from national, regional and non-governmental organizations. WANO for example as a non-governmental organization is playing an important and unique role in providing expertise and peer support to nuclear power operators. It is to be hoped and expected that these mechanisms for review and advice will, over time, take on an increased share of the burden.

In the meantime the IAEA has been playing the part of the initiator and implementing agency of a wide range of advisory safety services. Let me mention some:

• The Agency's Operational Safety Review programme, known as the OSART service, aims at enhancing operational safety at nuclear power plants worldwide, and has by now provided advice to operators of 56 plants in 27 countries;
• The promotion of a nuclear safety culture has been pursued by the Agency through international seminars as well as through special review teams to Assess Safety Culture in Organizations;
• The Agency has established an International Peer Review Service for Probabilistic Safety Assessment to help in reviewing the growing number of probabilistic safety assessments (PSAs) underway in most countries with nuclear power plants;
• The Agency's Engineering Safety Review Service deals with the suitability of proposed and existing nuclear power plant sites from a safety point of view. Overall site and seismic re-evaluations have been the major areas covered by this programme;
• Peer review of nuclear safety authorities and their practices was established by the Agency in recognition of the fact that a legally based, independent, technically strong regulatory authority is a necessary basis for safety. In line with its long established assistance activities in the regulatory area, the Agency began this service in 1989.

As the only global intergovernmental mechanism in the field of nuclear safety the IAEA is providing the forum for both norm-making - the development of legal instruments and codes - and for practical programmes of international review and advice.

The accident at Three Mile Island and the disaster at Chernobyl have given some further impetus for international norm-making. While the Chernobyl accident was the only one to have transboundary radiological consequences, the impact of both accidents went far beyond the borders of the States where they occurred.

As a result States have sought to promote greater transparency and openness in questions relating to the safety of nuclear power plants, and, by doing so, to promote their own nuclear safety culture. They have done this by accepting reviews by outsiders and widening the scope of safety to include the human as well as the technological dimension.

It is also against this background that the political will has emerged to conclude a binding international convention on the safety of nuclear power installations.

It might be said that the practical difference between on the one hand well developed recommendatory norms, like the Nuclear Safety Standards (NUSS) which are followed up by enquiries about implementation, and on the other, binding conventions, is not very great. Maybe so, but it is clear that to the community of States the level of commitment is considerably higher in the case of a legally binding convention. It is this commitment we now see manifested.

Less than three years ago, in 1991, following an initiative taken by Member States of the European Union, an international conference was convened by the IAEA on the "Safety of Nuclear Power: Strategy for the Future". This Conference was also an element of the IAEA's contribution to the 1992 United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development.

Among its "Major Findings" the IAEA Conference declared that "safety should be primarily enforced at national levels, by conscientious application of existing safety principles, standards and good practices at each plant, and within each national regulatory body, making best use of national legal frameworks and working practices." However, the IAEA Safety Conference also saw "a need to consider an integrated international approach to all aspects of nuclear safety, including safety objectives for radioactive wastes - which would be adopted by all Governments."

In 1991 the General Conference of the IAEA supported that idea and invited the Director General to undertake preparatory work on a nuclear safety convention. The result of the work thus started is now before this Conference. The draft Convention submitted for consideration and adoption has been elaborated by a large group of legal and technical experts convoked by the Agency from some 50 countries representing all regions of the world, countries with and without nuclear power programmes. During the discussions of the experts it has become clear that further instruments are needed, in particular relating to the management of radioactive wastes. The work of the Group of technical and legal experts was characterized by a sense of timing and purpose, as well as by a sense of compromise. The result is what has been termed an incentive-oriented Convention. It aims at adding new impetus to the efforts of further developing a high level of nuclear safety worldwide. Through this Convention, States will bind themselves to a number of important safety rules, and accept to participate in and report to periodic peer review meetings to verify implementation of the Convention's obligations.

The Convention shall apply to "nuclear installations" defined as land-based civil nuclear power plants. The obligations embodied in the draft Convention are based largely on the principles contained in the Agency's Safety Fundamentals document, "The Safety of Nuclear Installations" (Safety Series No. 110), which represents an international consensus on the basic concepts underlying the regulation and management of safety and the operation of nuclear installations.

The Convention contains a requirement that the Contracting Parties establish and maintain a legislative and regulatory framework to govern the safety of nuclear installations. There are obligations to be met covering general safety considerations, such as the necessity for policies which give priority to safety, adequate financial and human resources for safety, the assessment and verification of safety, as well as adequate quality assurance, radiation protection and emergency preparedness programmes. Other obligations cover safety in the siting, design, construction and operation of nuclear installations.

Under the draft Convention, each Contracting Party is required to take adequate national measures to assure nuclear safety and to report to the other Contracting Parties on the measures taken. The peer review process, whereby the Contracting Parties meet to discuss national reports, is the Convention's key mechanism for promoting a high level of nuclear safety worldwide. Further work is needed to draft the specific provisions governing the conduct of such meetings.

The Agency is ready to assume the responsibilities as depository of the Convention and as the body providing Secretariat services for meetings of the Contracting Parties.

The path to this Conference has not been altogether easy. We owe much to Mr. Domaratzki - Chairman of the Group of Legal and Technical Experts - for his patient work and inspiration. The text you are asked to review and adopt represents a milestone. The IAEA Secretariat remains ready to assist this Conference and, to the extent mandated, in the implementation of the Convention.

Let me conclude by wishing you every success in the adoption of this most important instrument.