Member nations of the Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS) unanimously approved the Vienna Declaration on Nuclear Safety.
The declaration includes principles to help contracting parties to implement the objectives of the CNS. It was signed at a diplomatic conference on Tuesday at the Vienna headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The declaration is part of efforts to strengthen nuclear safety protocols, especially following the 2011 Fukishima-Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan.
The conference was called to discuss a December 2013 request from Switzerland to amend a CNS article relating to the design and construction of nuclear installations.
Ambassador Rafael Mariano Grossi, Argentina’s permanent representative to the International Organizations in Vienna, submitted the declaration after a consensus on the Swiss proposal seemed out of reach.
“By and large, this is a good day for nuclear safety,” Grossi said.
The CNS was created on Oct. 24, 1996, to maintain high levels of nuclear safety. The 77 contracting parties submit reports for peer review by other parties every three years; the most recent review meeting, the sixth such meeting, was held from March 24 to April 4, 2014.
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