17.2.1 International environmental protection

Ever since the establishment of the United Nations Environment Programme and the formulation of the 1992 Rio Declaration, environmental protection has played an increasingly significant role in international law. Modern international institutions and instruments seek to promote economic devel­opment whilst at the same time preventing States from wilfully exploiting or neglecting their natural environments.

One particular area which has been a major focus of the international community, and indeed which dates back to the early part of the twentieth century, is the environmental and human health risks associated with ionis­ing radiation. The first important international institution in this field was the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), which was established in 1928 to publish recommendations on the basis of scien­tific research on the risks posed by radiation exposure.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is another important body in this field. As with the ICRP, the IAEA regularly publishes advice and guidance on how national legal systems can best protect individuals and the environment from radiation harm. In 2006, the IAEA published its 2006 Fundamental Safety Principles (IAEA, 2006, SF-1), which is a set of basic principles which should be applied by States to all circumstances which give rise to a radiation risk. The fundamental safety objective is to protect people and the environment from the harmful effects of ionising radiation over the lifetime of a nuclear facility (includes stages/processes such as planning, siting, design, manufacturing, construction, commissioning and operation, as well as decommissioning and closure). This objective should also be applied to the associated activities of transport and manage­ment of radioactive material and waste.

The IAEA has also published a highly influential document, Milestones in the Development of a National Infrastructure for Nuclear Power (IAEA, 2007), which provides detailed general guidance for States on how to develop national nuclear programmes in an environmentally sensitive manner.

The IAEA is in the process of developing further recommendations and guidance which address the environmental impact of facilities and the envi­ronmental consequences of radioactive releases to the natural environment (Radiological Environmental Impact Analysis for Facilities and Activities and Regulatory Control of Radioactive Releases to the Environment from Facilities and Activities). At the time of publication these safety standards were both under development.

The recommendations and publications of the ICRP and the IAEA have undoubtedly had an enormous influence on the development of the inter­national regulation of nuclear facilities; however, like most instruments of international law, they are not directly enforceable in national legal systems

— they are merely published with a view to guiding States on how to best introduce measures to protect individuals and the environment from radia­tion harm. In order for the measures to apply directly in national legal systems, they must be directly transposed into national law by national legislation.