Implementation Of A Modified SQP In The Caribbean French Territories (INFCIRC/718/Mod.1)

Year
2020
Author(s)
Julie Oddou - Comité technique Euratom
François Bonino - Comité Technique Euratom
Eugénie VIAL - Comité Technique Euratom
Louis OLIVIER - Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire
Abstract

<i>The Treaty of Tlatelolco, opened for signature in 1967, establishes a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (NWFZ) in the Latin America and the Caribbean. It has been ratified by all 33 countries concerned. Protocol I to the Treaty also binds those overseas countries with territories in the region (the </i><i>United States</i><i>, the </i><i>United Kingdom</i><i>, </i><i>France</i><i>, and the </i><i>Netherlands</i><i>) to the terms of the Treaty. One consequent obligation for these States is to conclude a comprehensive safeguards agreement (CSA) with the IAEA specifically for these territories as any Non-Nuclear Weapon State in the region. France ratified the Protocol I in 1992. Due to the very limited quantities of nuclear material in the relevant locations, France originally concluded a CSA with the former Small Quantities Protocol (SQP) that has the effect of holding in abeyance the implementation of most of the safeguards measures provided for in Part II of INFCIRC/153, i.e. certain reporting requirements and safeguards inspections (INFCIRC/718). The modified SQP established by the IAEA Board of Governors in 2005 (GOV/INF/276.mod 1) made applicable many provisions of the CSA that were suspended by the original SQP. Based on the national law for Nuclear Material Accounting and Control (NMAC), the French authorities have been training since 2014 to make declarations as if the modified SQP was in force. They also exchanged with Euratom both for practical and legal consequences of the implementation of the modified SQP, as the INFCIRC/718 agreement is a trilateral one. France ratified in 2018 the modified SQP (INFCIRC/718/Mod.1). Both Euratom and France procedures were finalised end of 2018 to allow an entry into force in February 2019. The initial report on nuclear material was sent to the IAEA via Euratom in March 2019. </i><i>This paper describes how the national NMAC was used to satisfy the IAEA requirements and the steps carried out by the national authorities for the implementation of the modified SQP. It also explains the legal and practical steps that were necessary to comply with Euratom framework as well as the practical consequences for the concerned operators in the French territories in the region.</i>