Summary of Doctoral thesis on Law: National responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety in accordance with international law, practice in some countries, and lessons learned for Vietnam

The purpose of the study is to clarify the theoretical and practical issues of national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety through in-depth and comprehensive study of the rules of international law executed in some typical countries in the world. On that basis, recommendations are made to improve the law on national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety in Vietnam.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINISTRY OF JUSTICE

HA NOI LAW UNIVERSITY

MAC THI HOAI THUONG

NATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ENSURING NUCLEAR SAFETY IN ACCORDANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL LAW, PRACTICE IN SOME COUNTRIES, AND LESSONS

LEARNED FOR VIETNAM

Major : International Law Code : 62 38 01 08

SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS ON LAW

HA NOI - 2018

The work has been completed at Ha Noi Law University

Scientific Instructors: Assoc Prof Dr Doan Nang

Reviewer 1: Assoc Prof Dr Hoang Phuoc Hiep

Reviewer 2: Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Trung Tin

Reviewer 3: Dr Tran Van Thang

The Thesis was defended at the Doctoral Thesis Evaluation Council at University level, meeting at Ha Noi Law University

At , on date: , month: , 2018

The Thesis can be found at National Library of Vietnam

and Library of Ha Noi Law University

PREFACE

1 Reasons for choosing the subject

A comprehensive, in-depth study of national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety is essential for the following reasons:

Firstly, to institutionalize the guidelines and policies related to peaceful

nuclear energy development that the Party and the State have set out in the Document of the IX National Party Congress of the Party, the socio-economic development strategy for the 2001-2010 period, with direction:

"Studying the solutions for using nuclear energy" and the Resolution No NQ/TW dated 01/11/2012 of the Sixth Conference of the Central Committee

20-of the Party XI on the development 20-of science and technology serving the cause of industrialization and modernization in the context of the socialist-oriented market economy and international integration (issued together with the Government's Resolution No 46 / NQ-CP dated March 29, 2013)

Secondly, the study clarifies the theoretical and legal basis for the

implementation of national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety of nations in general and Vietnam in particular by defining the content and scope of national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety This is an important basis for studying and evaluating the current situation of the law and proposing solutions to improve the law to enhance the efficiency of the implementation of national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety

Thirdly, overcome limitations and inadequacies in the Law on Atomic

Energy Vietnam 2008 on national responsibility to ensure nuclear safety The plan for amendment and supplementation of the Atomic Energy Law has been included in the legislative program of the National Assembly term XIII (Resolution No 20/2011 / QH13 dated 26/11/2011) The amendment of the Atomic Energy Law is also a task of the Action Program to implement Resolution No 20-NQ / TW dated 01/11/2012 of the sixth meeting of the Central Committee of Party XI on the development of science and technology for the cause of industrialization and modernization in the context

of socialist-oriented market economy and international integration

Although the National Assembly has decided to suspend the Ninh Thuan nuclear power project in accordance with Resolution No 31/2016/ QH14 dated

supplement of the Law on Atomic Energy is still a matter of urgency

Because of nuclear power in Vietnam, nuclear power applications have been widely applied in all fields, with increasingly sophisticated technology

Fourthly, propose solutions to enhance the efficiency of ensuring

nuclear safety for countries ahead of nuclear power development trends in neighboring countries of Vietnam such as Malaysia, Indonesia, China Especially China's nuclear power plants near the territory of Vietnam

2 Objectives and research tasks

The purpose of the study is to clarify the theoretical and practical issues

of national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety through in-depth and comprehensive study of the rules of international law executed in some typical countries in the world On that basis, recommendations are made to improve the law on national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety in Vietnam For the above purpose, the thesis is closely related to the following research tasks:

Firstly, clarify the theoretical issues of national responsibility for

ensuring nuclear safety, which establishes the definition of national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety, defining the characteristics and scope of national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety

Secondly, systematic study of the comprehensive content of international

legal provisions on national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety To assess the advantages, limitations and development trends of the international law provisions on national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety

Third, synthesizing, analyzing, evaluating and enforcing the law of

some typical countries in the world on national responsibility for nuclear safety, through which draw lessons learned for Vietnam

Finally, study the Vietnamese legal provisions on national responsibility

for ensuring nuclear safety, thereby confirming the development steps, the advantages to be developed, and at the same time finding the limitations., the shortcomings and causes that led to that situation, identify the direction and solution to further improve the law, improve the effectiveness of law enforcement in Vietnam on national responsibility to ensure nuclear safety

3 The object and scope of the thesis’s study

Research subjects include:

- International legal documents and legal documents of some countries

on national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety

- Practical implementation of international law and national legislation

in some countries around the world on national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety

- Practical implementation of Vietnamese laws on national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety

The research scope of the thesis is as follows:

- The thesis does not study the theoretical issues of national responsibility in the field of atomic energy in general, but rather focuses on theoretical and practical issues of national nuclear safety responsibility

- The dissertation does not cover all general legal issues related to nuclear safety, but rather focuses on the international legal provisions on national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety on the basis offvd implementation of national responsibilities in accordance with international commitments include: the obligation to apply all measures to prevent nuclear accidents and the compensation liability of the State for non-infringement of the responsibility for the application of preventive measures to prevent nuclear accidents

- Studying the Vietnamese laws and regulations related to the implementation of national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety, thereby affirming the development steps, the advantages to be promoted and at the same time finding the limitations, the remaining problems and causes leading

to that reality, determining the specific directions and requirements and solutions to further perfecting the law of Vietnam

4 Theoretical and research methodologies

The dissertation is approached according to the methodology of Marxism- Leninism For each specific content, the dissertation uses a variety of scientific research methods such as system approach, historical methods, synthesis methods, analytical methods, statistical methods, comparative law, combining theoretical and practical research to provide concrete and feasible solutions

5 The new contributions of the thesis

Accepting the results of the researches of the previous scientists, research projects, analysis and some new points as follows:

In theoretical terms: Unlike related research projects in and outside the

country, the thesis approached and analyzed the theoretical basis of the law

on nuclear safety in the following stages: preparation of nuclear facilities, during the operation of a nuclear facility, terminate the operation of a nuclear

facility and compensate for damage caused by a nuclear accident The dissertation studies the definition of "national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety", clearly defining the peculiarities of national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety and the scope of this responsibility This is an important foundation in the development and development of the law, proposing solutions to improve the law to enhance the efficiency of the implementation of national responsibility to ensure nuclear safety

In practical terms: The thesis highlighted two fundamental aspects of

the legal practice of national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety: (i) Practical international law provisions on national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety, evaluation of the tendency of advocacy and development of international legal norms on national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety (ii) The legal practice of some countries is typical of the issue of national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety, including the comparison, evaluation of the advantages and limitations of the laws of those countries and draw lessons learned Combined with generalizing, analyzing and objectively assessing Vietnam's legal practice on national liability for ensuring nuclear safety, in the context of the reciprocal relationship between Vietnamese law and the law International law and foreign law, thus commenting on the need to improve the provisions of Vietnamese law on national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety

In solution terms: From the theoretical and practical issues mentioned

above, the thesis proposes individual ideas on directions and solutions to improve the provisions of Vietnamese law on national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety Special emphasis is placed on solutions for the development

of legal systems, safety standards and state management agencies on nuclear safety and the role of international cooperation in ensuring nuclear safety

6 The scientific significance of the thesis

- The research results of the thesis are highly reliable, contributing to the supplementary knowledge of international legal science in general and the specialized law of nuclear power in particular

- The thesis provides scientific grounds for competent state agencies to refer to in the process of making guidelines, policies and perfecting the law

on atomic energy;

- The dissertation can be a source of learning materials for staff, lecturers, students, and related scientific practitioners to refer and refer to

7 The structure of the thesis

Apart from the introduction, conclusion, list of references and annexes, the content of the thesis consists of 4 chapters:

Chapter 1: Overview of the research situation

Chapter 2: Some basic theories of national responsibility for nuclear safety Chapter 3: Current status of international law on national responsibility

for nuclear safety and practical implementation in some countries

Chapter 4: Practical implementation of national responsibility for

nuclear safety of Viet Nam - some recommendations

Chapter 1 OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH SITUATION

1.1 Evaluation of research works in other countries

1.1.1 Evaluate the research on the formation and development of international legal norms of national responsibility in general, the constituent elements and the nature of national responsibility

These works deal with various aspects of international law of national responsibility in the field of nuclear energy, including: national responsibility and international liability; the relationship between national sovereignty and national responsibility in general The above-mentioned works have analyzed and evaluated the advantages and limitations of the current national responsibility regime However, none of these projects has specifically addressed the issue of national responsibility in the field of nuclear safety

1.1.2 Evaluating the works of nuclear safety responsibility of states in the process of using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes

In this project group, the foreign author generally outlines the regulatory system and safety standards required by the IAEA and other international organizations, the development of the system of safety standards and specific responsibilities of States Developing legislation and safety standards and enforcing it is the responsibility of the nation, shared by the operators and the organizations and individuals concerned However, these works are mainly focused on analyzing issues related to nuclear power without mentioning nuclear issues in other applications And these works almost do not clarify the boundaries of responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety of the country with the responsibility of organizations and individuals in the field of nuclear energy, especially in handling issues of nuclear incidents

1.1.3 Evaluation of research works related to the content of responsibility for compensation in the event of a national nuclear accident

These projects have in common, pointing out the limitation of the current nuclear liability regime as the maximum level of responsibility defined under the current regulations is too low, not meeting the damages in case of serious incidents, the absolute jurisdiction of the country where the nuclear facility is situated reduces the ability of the judicial authority to choose the arbitral tribunal and affects the fairness of the trial of the victims

in the country and victims abroad And these projects confirm the need for national cooperation to improve the regime of liability for nuclear damages

1.1.4 Evaluating research studies on the practical and legal experience of nations in the process of using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes

These works refer to the system of legal provisions of a number of nuclear states, experience of countries in the occurrence of nuclear incidents, the orientation of nuclear development in some countries However, these works have been studied singly, with no comparisons, comparisons of pros and cons and have not specifically investigated their respective nuclear safety responsibilities and there is no analysis and evaluation of the experiences that can be applied in Vietnam

1.2 Evaluation of research works in Vietnam

Group of researches on the formation and development of international laws and foreign laws on the peaceful use of nuclear energy; the development of nuclear power in the world and introduction of nuclear development policy of some countries Propose the necessary mechanisms, policies and measures for the nuclear energy development program in Vietnam These works have identified and analyzed the basic science content

of nuclear, nuclear technology and modern technology of nuclear power plants, human history gradually explores the potential of nuclear energy in the micro-world, the status and the views of the scientists who dedicate themselves to it, the tragedies that nuclear energy causes and undergoes, the enormous achievements that nuclear energy has gained, the impact of nuclear power on politics, the law, the global economy, and the the enormous problem that nuclear energy places on humanity, Confirming the discovery and conquest of nuclear energy is a human miracle in the history of science and in the history of human evolution

Group of researches on the formation, development and content of the legal system regulating the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and the development policy of nuclear energy in Vietnam Practical implementation of the provisions of Vietnamese law on nuclear energy These works mainly analyze the content, achievements and inadequacies of the Law on Atomic Energy of Vietnam 2008, propose amendments to improve the law of Vietnam

on nuclear energy in general but not research particularly on the contents of national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety and the liability to pay compensation for damage caused by nuclear accidents due to nuclear incidents Group of researches on the status of participation in international treaties in the field of nuclear energy of Vietnam; the practical implementation of international treaties on nuclear; Compatibility and accession to international treaties on nuclear in Vietnam: They mainly focus on studying the interests and responsibilities of member countries when participating in international treaties

in the field of nuclear and Vietnamese responsibilities when signing and acceding to the treaty, roles and responsibilities among ministries and sectors, without systematic study of national responsibility in the field of nuclear safety and compensation liability for nuclear damage, it has not assessed the correlation between the international treaties nor the overall picture of the international law provisions on national responsibility in the field of nuclear safety Group of researches on the Nuclear Safety of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the safety standards of some countries on nuclear safety Viet Nam's nuclear safety standards relate to safety in the construction and operation

of nuclear power plants: It mainly deals with nuclear safety standards in accordance with international law, standards in a number of countries and development policies, and Vietnam's nuclear safety standards, thereby evaluating and delivering proposes to improve technical regulations and standards on nuclear safety in Vietnam However, the above works stop at the general analysis and evaluation of the provisions of the law of atomic energy in general, but not any work to study in detail the responsibility of national nuclear safety Group of researches on the issue of nations’ compensation liability for ensuring nuclear safety Very few research works in Vietnam mentioned this issue These works generally refer to the notion of national responsibility in general, the form of implementation, the practical implementation of general liability However, these works do not directly address the current status of international legal provisions on national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety and practices implemented in the current period nor any work directly addressing the nation's international legal liability in the field of nuclear safety

In general, the research works in Vietnam, or just stop at the study of a number of specific agreements in the field of liability for nuclear damages, or study the provisions of the law of atomic energy of countries, related to the reality in Vietnam, but there has not been a comprehensive study and assessment of the provisions of international law on national responsibility to ensure nuclear safety, responsibility to pay compensation for nuclear damage

in the event of nuclear safety incidents

1.3 Issues that need further research and the problem-solving method

Based on the research, evaluation and succession of the achievements

of the research in the country and abroad, the thesis will continue to study and clarify a number of theoretical and practical issues, at the same time, we propose directions and solutions to improve the national as well as international law on national responsibility for nuclear safety as follows:

Firstly, in theoretical terms

- Develop and clarify the definition of national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety, the characteristics and contents of the national responsibility regime for ensuring nuclear safety

- On the basis of studying the formation and development of international laws on national responsibility and the development trend of legal norms on the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, the thesis there will be evaluations of the trends of advocacy and development of international legal norms in the field of national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety in the coming time

Secondly, in practical terms

- Demonstrate the legal practice of a number of countries typical of regulating and implementing national nuclear safety assurances, including comparisons, evaluate the advantages and limitations of the laws of those countries and draw lessons for Vietnam

- Objectively analyzes and evaluates Vietnam's law on national liability

to ensure nuclear safety On the basis of comparative comparison with the requirements of the international law on national responsibility for nuclear safety, the thesis systematically assesses the achievements as well as limitations and inadequacies in the provisions of the law of Vietnam, the causes of such limitations and shortcomings and the interpretation of the need to improve the provisions of Vietnamese law in the field of national

responsibility to ensure the nuclear safety assurances

- On the basis of the provisions of international law, experiences of some countries in the world, the reality, conditions and circumstances of

Vietnam, the Party and State views, the dissertation proposes individual opinions on the direction and solutions to perfect the legal provisions on national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety, including recommendations

on the participation of international treaties, suggest a system of solutions to contribute to improving the effectiveness of implementing the system of national responsibilities for ensuring nuclear safety

Chapter 2 SOME BASIC THEORETICAL ISSUES ON NATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ENSURING NUCLEAR SAFETY 2.1 Nuclear safety concept

2.1.1 Concept of nuclear energy

The concept of "atom" has long existed in history, but the concept of

"nuclear energy" has only been recognized in recent decades In essence, the concept of nuclear energy is not contradictory and has a unified point, that is:

Nuclear energy is the energy released during nuclear transformation including fission energy, fusion energy, energy from radioactive decay; Electromagnetic waves are capable of ionizing matter and the energy of particles is accelerated

2.1.2 Concept of nuclear safety assurance

Nuclear safety assurance means the application of all necessary measures and conditions to ensure the stability and protection of people and the environment against risks and incidents caused by nuclear equipment, nuclear material caused during use, operation

2.2 The concept of national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety

2.2.1 Definition of national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety

The national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety is understood as the responsibility of the State in applying all measures to prevent incidents or minimize the consequences of incidents caused by nuclear equipment or nuclear material for human, environment and liability for compensation, overcoming the consequences arising from nuclear accidents due to unsafe nuclear safety assurance

2.2.2 Characteristics of national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety

Firstly, on the subject, the state is the sole subject to national

responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety

Secondly, on the scope of national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety, the national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety is defined for all

nuclear activities and applied from the time the country prepares to build nuclear facilities, for the entire period of operation and even for the

termination of nuclear activities National responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety includes liability for damages caused by nuclear accidents

Thirdly, on the law governing, National responsibility for ensuring

nuclear safety is governed by both the international legal system and the national legal system

2.3 The basis for determining national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety

2.3.1 International legal principles define national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety

2.3.1.1 The basis for defining national responsibility for all measures to prevent nuclear accidents in all phases of nuclear activities from the preparation of nuclear facilities, operate and dismantle the nuclear facilities

- The international treaties define the national responsibility to apply

all measures to prevent nuclear

- International practices in the field of nuclear energy are: Nuclear safety principles and principles of peaceful use of nuclear energy only

- Other international instruments such as: Decisions, Declarations by the IAEA and the United Nations, codes of conduct and IAEA Nuclear Safety Standards

2.3.1.2 The basis for the establishment of international law defines the responsibility for compensation for nuclear damage caused by unsafe nuclear safety assuarance

- Proposals on International Liability of the United Nations International Law Commission

- Liability for damages in the nuclear field is directly regulated in a number of specialized treaties, such as the 1963 Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage, the 1960 Paris Convention on Accountability third party in the field of nuclear energy, the Additional Compensation Arrangement for Nuclear Damage (CSC)

2.3.2 The national legal basis defines national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety

The national legal basis defining national responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety is the system of national legal documents on nuclear energy, nuclear safety, safety standards and other related legal documents

2.4 Content of national responsibility to ensure nuclear safety

2.4.1 National responsibility prior to conducting nuclear activities

- Responsibility for the establishment of legal systems for the management of nuclear facilities safety

- Carry out an environmental impact assessment to ensure that activities

do not adversely affect the environment

- Authorization for regulatory authorities to determine the conditions required for the safe operation of nuclear installations

- Responsibility for consultation, providing information to affected countries and the public

2.4.2 National responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety during the operation of nuclear facilities

- Responsibility for organizing the supervision and management of nuclear facilities safety

- Responsibility to treat nuclear waste and used fuel

2.4.3 National responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety in the event

of a nuclear accident

- Responsibility for early warning of nuclear accidents

- Support responsibilities among countries to mitigate and overcome the consequences of nuclear accidents

- Liability for compensation for damage caused by a nuclear accident in accordance with the general rules of international law

Chapter 3 INTERNATIONAL LAW ON NATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR

ENSURING NUCLEAR SAFETY AND PRACTICAL

IMPLEMENTATION IN SOME COUNTRIES

3.1 The formation and development of international law provisions

on national responsibility for nuclear safety

3.1.1 Before the establishment of the International Atomic Energy Organization (before 1957)

International law on nuclear safety at this stage is a very new one and there are no international treaties or international norms regulating this issue

3.1.2 The period from 1957 to before 1986

This is the stage in the exploitation of nuclear power applications The international community has begun to pay attention to the development of legal norms that regulate nuclear use for peaceful purposes However, as there has never been a particularly serious nuclear accident, at this time, international community still does not have a proper assessment of the role

of standards, safety measures, and measures to overcome and overcome the consequences of nuclear incidents