Over the years an international regime has developed for the safe manage­ment of spent fuel and radioactive waste. Three components can be distin­guished: (1) the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, (2) the IAEA Safety Standards Series and (3) the National Regulatory Control Systems.

The objectives of the Joint Convention (IAEA, 2006a) are to achieve and maintain a high degree of safety worldwide, to ensure that there are effec­tive defences in place against potential hazards and to prevent accidents and mitigate their consequences. The Joint Convention is the first interna­tional legally binding agreement in the area of radioactive waste manage­ment. The technical basis for the Convention is provided by the IAEA Safety Fundamentals (IAEA, 2006b). It is an ‘incentive’ convention, which means that there are no fixed penalties and that improvements in safety are stimulated through the review process. The articles of the Joint Convention set targets. Issues covered by the Joint Convention include provisions on how to ensure safety through proper legal and regulatory systems and proper siting, design, operation and decommissioning of the necessary facilities.

The Joint Convention applies to spent fuel and radioactive waste result­ing from civilian nuclear reactors and applications or handled in a civilian programme. It also includes spent sealed sources, planned and controlled releases into the environment from regulated nuclear facilities and waste from mining and processing of uranium.

The important tools of the Joint Convention are given by the review meetings that are held every three years. At the review meetings the national reports are reviewed and commented on by the parties to the Joint

Convention. The national reports give a good overview of the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste in the country. The review process pro­vides a good opportunity for exchange of lessons learned and also encour­ages the countries to develop their activities. At the end of 2009 the Joint Convention had 52 contracting parties, including 26 of the 30 countries with nuclear power plants.