In June 2011, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated that, as a result of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima in Japan, “A new page of history is about to be turned in our relationship with nuclear energy.” While such a statement may make good headlines, it is far from clear what was meant by this or what, if any, changes would occur in the sector.

Unfortunately, the civil nuclear sector is a prime example of the need for, yet lack of, enforcement of international rules and regulations, in spite of the statement of the former Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that “Chernobyl made us understand that a nuclear accident anywhere is an accident everywhere,” and that following the Chernobyl accident in April 1986 the international community proposed new measures to reduce nuclear risks and increase transparency, through four new Conventions:

1. • The Convention on the Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident (October 1986).

2. • The Convention on Assistance in the case of a Nuclear Accident (September 1986).

3. • The International Nuclear Safety Convention (June 1994).

4. • The Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (June 2001).

Following the disaster at the Daaiichi I nuclear power plant at Fukushima, and 25 years after the Chernobyl accident, it is clear that the current international regulatory regime does not go far enough.