The IAEA conducted a combined legislative assistance mission and workshop from 20 to 24 March in Kathmandu, Nepal, to help raise awareness among parliamentarians, policy-makers, decision-makers and senior officials on international and national nuclear law.
Requested by the Government of Nepal, the mission provided an opportunity for 20 participants to engage in interactive discussions on international and national nuclear law, focusing on the relevant international legally binding and non-binding instruments adopted by, and under, the auspices of the IAEA to which Nepal is not yet party.
In addition, around 40 members of the National Assembly and the House of Representatives participated in a special awareness-raising meeting on the benefits of adhering to the instruments and the importance of having an adequate national legal framework for the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear technology and its applications.
The mission included a national workshop on the legal framework for nuclear and radiation safety, nuclear security and civil liability for nuclear damage which was attended by officials from government organizations and other institutions. These included representatives from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST), the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Forest and Environment, the Ministry of Law Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Health and Population, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Nepal Law Commission, the Federal Parliament Secretariat, the Department of Mines and Geology, the National Academy for National Science, the Nepal Agricultural Research Council and the Kathmandu University.
Indu Bikram Joshi, Joint Secretary, MOEST, said: “Although we have recently adopted legislation, we have still not yet joined the international instruments on nuclear safety, security and liability. This legislative assistance mission provided a useful opportunity for us to bring key stakeholders and lawmakers together, with a view to discussing those of particular relevance to Nepal. He continued, “By joining the 1997 Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage, we could benefit from an international compensation fund which can be called upon in the case of a nuclear accident in our neighbouring countries. It would enable nuclear damage suffered in Nepal to be compensated and for victims to be treated equally as those in our neighbouring countries.”
Nepal’s national nuclear legislation is mainly included in the "Radioactive Material (Uses and Regulation), Act 2020", approved by the Parliament on 28 May 2020 and authenticated by the President on 25 June 2020. The IAEA team also discussed challenges and implementation issues concerning the national legislation during bilateral discussion sessions.
“The international legal instruments establish internationally accepted principles and requirements for the safe and secure use of nuclear technology, as well as mechanisms for compensation of nuclear damage,” said Anthony Wetherall, Head, Nuclear and Treaty Law Section of the IAEA Office of Legal Affairs. “It is encouraging that with this mission the country has taken the steps to seriously consider joining the relevant instruments. Through the IAEA Legislative Assistance Programme, the Agency will continue to support Nepal, upon request, in its efforts in this regard.”
This event was implemented under the IAEA Legislative Assistance Programme within the framework of the current regional Technical Cooperation Project RAS0090, entitled ‘Establishing and Enhancing National Nuclear Legal Frameworks’.
This legislative assistance mission provided a useful opportunity for us to bring key stakeholders and lawmakers together, with a view to discussing those of particular relevance to Nepal.
