Nuclear industry ‘facing period of growth and innovation’
Ramzi Jammal, head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), has been elected as president of the eighth review meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s joint convention on the safety of spent fuel management and on the safety of radioactive waste management.
A CNSC statement said the appointment will provide Canada with the opportunity to lead the convention for the first time since it ratified the convention in 2001.
Jammal’s term will run from 2024 to 2027 during which he will focus on four priority areas: raising awareness of the importance of the convention to increase the number of signatories; increasing participation in the convention by underrepresented and emerging nuclear nations; introducing new and supporting current improvements to the national reporting and peer review processes; and facilitating participation, especially by convention parties with minimal resources.
“As we stand at the forefront of a period of growth and innovation in the nuclear sector to address climate change, we must rise to the occasion,” said Jammal.
“The world looks to us as stewards in addressing the urgent challenges of ensuring the safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste.”
The IAEA joint convention on the safety of spent fuel management and on the safety of radioactive waste management represents the first international legal framework specifically aimed at improving the safety of managing spent fuel and radioactive waste. It was concluded in 1997 and entered into force in 2001.
It introduces key safety principles and implements a “peer review” mechanism similar to that of the convention on nuclear safety.
It applies to spent fuel originating from civilian nuclear reactors and radioactive waste produced by civilian activities. It also applies to spent fuel and radioactive waste from military or defense programmes under certain conditions.
The convention also encompasses the intentional and regulated release of radioactive liquid or gaseous materials into the environment from nuclear facilities under regulation.
The Convention has been ratified by 88 contracting parties which have to uphold their obligations under it. Two countries have signed but not ratified the Convention.*
*Correction, 16 April 2024: The article had erroneously stated only 42 countries had ratified the convention. This was the number of ratifications in 2001 when the treaty entered into force.
