In the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident (26 April 1986), the international community negotiated a number of conventions designed to prevent accidents linked to the use of nuclear power and mitigate their consequences should they occur. These conventions are based on the principle of a voluntary commitment on the part of the States, who retain sole responsibility for the installations placed under their jurisdiction.

Two conventions deal with the prevention of nuclear accidents (Convention on Nuclear Safety and Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management), while two others deal with management of their consequences (Convention on early notification of a nuclear accident and Convention on assistance in the case of a nuclear accident or radiological emergency). France is a contracting party to these four conventions. The IAEA (see point 3.1 below) is the depositary of these conventions and provides the relevant secretarial services.

The Convention on Nuclear Safety concerns civil nuclear power reactors. France signed it on 20 September 1994 (the first day on which it was open for signature at the IAEA's General Conference). The convention came into force on 24 October 1996. At the end of 2005, it had been ratified by 56 States (since March 2005, this includes all countries in possession of nuclear power reactors).

In ratifying the convention, the contracting parties agree to submit a report describing how they apply the fundamental principles of safety and good safety practices, which are the subject of the various articles of the convention. The reports from the contracting parties are examined during a review meeting at which each party may ask questions to the others.

The first two review meetings were held in April 1999 and April 2002. The third contracting party meeting was held at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna from 11 to 22 April 2005. As at the previous meetings, the ASN was in charge of coordinating the French national report and played an active role in the meeting.

This third meeting was a step forward in relation to the meetings of 1999 and 2002, as each party had learned the lessons of the first exercises. The contracting parties took advantage of prior experience to present the nuclear safety situation in their countries with greater openness and transparency. Among the most significant points were the call by several of the leading nuclear countries (including France) for IRRT (Integrated Regulatory Review Team) missions to assess their safety reference system and regulatory practices (see point 3.1 and IRRT sheet), the importance attributed to work on harmonising the regulatory approaches within WENRA and the desire to preserve safety levels in a context of economic deregulation.

Now that the Convention has been ratified by India, the 2008 meeting will for the first time see all countries operating nuclear power reactors compare their safety practices. Consideration is to be given to enhancing the independency and transparency of the nuclear safety authorities.