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International Dimension

International Organisations

Ireland is a member of a number of international organisations whose activities concern nuclear safety and radiological protection.These include the following:

British Irish Council  (BIC)

Ireland works directly with the UK and the UK devolved administrations in the Environmental Sector Group of the British-Irish Council.  Communiqués issued after the Ministerial meetings are available on the British-Irish Council website.

OSPAR

The 1992 OSPAR Convention is the current instrument guiding international cooperation on the protection of the marine environment of the north-east Atlantic. It combined and up-dated the 1972 Oslo Convention on dumping waste at sea and the 1974 Paris Convention on land-based sources of marine pollution.

The work under the convention is managed by the OSPAR Commission, made up of representatives of the Governments of 15 Contracting Parties and the European Commission, representing the European Community.

The Radioactive Substances Strategy sets the objective of preventing pollution of the maritime area from ionising radiation through progressive and substantial reductions of discharges, emissions and losses of radioactive substances, with the ultimate aim of concentrations in the environment being near background values for naturally occurring radioactive substances and close to zero for artificial radioactive substances.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

The IAEA, based in Vienna, is the world’s centre of cooperation in the nuclear field. It was set up as the world´s "Atoms for Peace" organization in 1957 within the United Nations family. The Agency works with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technologies.

Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)

The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) is a specialised agency within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organisation of industrialised countries, based in Paris, France.

Nuclear Safety In the European Union

Within the European Union, responsibility for radiation protection is a matter for the European Commission (EC). The legal basis for the activities of the EC in this field is the Euratom Treaty, which was signed in 1957 and is the basis of the European Atomic Energy Community and Community legislation relating to radiation protection.

Nuclear Safety in Central and Eastern Europe

Ireland has concerns about the safety of a number of former Soviet Union designed nuclear reactors in the Central and Eastern European countries and in the newly independent States of the former Soviet Union. The 1986 Chernobyl accident highlighted concerns about the design and age of reactors in these countries. In Ireland's view, it is vital that these nuclear reactors, which cannot be upgraded quickly to western safety standards, should be closed and decommissioned. The European Union, through its PHARE and TACIS programmes, is working to enhance the safety of these reactors.

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