243 



health and safety, and for transport of radioactive materials. NEA 

 has also been a prime mover in defining and limiting liabilities in case 

 of a major nuclear accident. 



Basic norms developed by the Agency for protection against ioniz- 

 ing radiations were developed by an NEA Health and Safety Com- 

 mittee in liasion with the International Atomic Energy Agency. These 

 were adopted by NEA member countries in 1959. Application of these 

 norms to specific circumstances are subject to separate recommenda- 

 tions by the Agency, usually in collaboration with the IAEA and other 

 international bodies such as the World Health Organisation. A deci- 

 sion to establish an emergency warning system in case of an increased 

 environmental radioactivity was adopted November 23, 1963. 



As for limitation of liability on the part of the owners of nuclear 

 power plants, in 1960 an OECD Convention on Third Party Liability, 

 was developed in Paris under the auspices of the Agency. Signed by 

 most NEA members, the convention came into force in April 1968. It 

 defines the underlying principles of all international agreements on 

 nuclear liability, and is the basis for most national legislation in 

 Europe for this purpose. 



NEA and Safeguards for Nuclear Materials 



An NEA Convention on Security Control, which took effect on 

 July 22, 1959, established a safeguards system of inspection and con- 

 trol for the movement and use of nuclear fuel materials within the 

 Agency's jurisdiction. A Control Bureau adopted rules applicable 

 to nuclear facilities using nuclear materials recovered or obtained in an 

 NEA venture. The rules cover materials from all NEA undertakings. 

 The future of this NEA function after the Nonproliferation Treaty 

 takes effect remains to be seen. 



United States Participation in NEA Activities 



U.S. participation in NEA activities has been much closer to tradi- 

 tional types of international cooperation in scientific ventures than 

 has been its participation in Euratom. AEC's annual reports since 

 1960 describes U.S. participation in terms of information exchange, 

 cooperation, and participation in special projects — but with no 

 mention of U.S. funding of such projects. A typical description ap- 

 pears in the AEC's annual report for 1968, which said : 272 



The AEC continued its participation in joint projects with the European 

 Xuclear Energy Agency (ENEA), including the Halden Heavy Boiling Water 

 Reactor in Norway, the Dragon High Temperature Reactor Project in England, 

 Eurochemic in Belgium, and the International Food Irradition Project at Seibers- 

 dorf, Austria. Information exchanges on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy 

 and participation in related study groups and symposia continued. 



An earlier annual report, that for 1963, gives more detail about 

 U.S. participation in the Dragon Project, which began in 1959 under 

 an exchange agreement between the Dragon Project signatories and 

 the AEC. It reported that AEC cooperation with the Dragon Project 

 had been carried out through exchanges of technical reports and 

 correspondence, semiannual conferences, visits, long-term personnel 

 exchanges and a cooperative materials testing program. 273 



272 U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Annual Report to Congress of the Atomic Energy 

 Commission for 1968, op. clt., p. 205. 



273 U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Annual Report to Congress of the Atomic Energy 

 Commission for 196S, op. cit., p. 239. 



