On 20 September 1994, more than eight years after the Chernobyl disaster, 1 a convention that aims to prevent the occurrence of such accidents in the future was opened for signature by the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). 2 The Convention on Nuclear Safety (hereafter" the Convention") contains the world's first binding international standards on the siting, design, construction and operation of land-based nuclear power plants. 3 The Convention also includes an international review system to supervise the implementation of these provisions.

Proposals for a convention on nuclear safety have been around since the 1970s. 4 However, the idea gathered sufficient momentum only after it had been endorsed by an international conference on the safety of nuclear power held in Vienna in September 1991. The conference, convened at the initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany, cautiously recognised the" potential value of a step-by-step approach to a framework convention". 5 Following endorsement of the suggestion by the IAEA General Conference, a Group of Legal and Technical Experts produced in February 1994 a draft convention on the basis of an outline prepared by the IAEA Director General." A slightly revised version was subsequently adopted and opened for signature.