National Atomic Energy Agency

Poland ratified a number of international agreements relating to nuclear safety and radiological protection which, under the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, are the source of binding provisions of law in Poland. They cover the areas of international cooperation and exchange of information in case of nuclear accident or radiological emergency, nuclear safety of nuclear facilities, safety of spent nuclear fuel management and radioactive waste management, physical protection of nuclear materials.

The objective of agreements and conventions is to commit particular states – contracting parties to maintain a high level of nuclear safety and radiological protection. This objective is fulfilled by imposing international safety requirements on governments, nuclear regulatory bodies and other authorities whose activities can affect safety.

The Convention on Nuclear Safety was adopted in Vienna on 17 June 1994. The Convention was drawn up during a series of expert level meetings from 1992 to 1994. Its aim is to legally commit participating States to maintain a high level of safety of nuclear facilities.

The obligations of the Parties are based to a large extent on the principles contained in the IAEA Safety Fundamentals document "Fundamental Safety Principles (SF-1)". These obligations cover for instance, siting, design, construction, operation, the availability of adequate financial and human resources, the assessment and verification of safety, quality assurance and emergency preparedness.

The Convention is an incentive instrument. It is not designed to ensure fulfilment of obligations by Parties through control and sanction but is based on their common interest to achieve higher levels of safety which will be developed and promoted through regular meetings of the Parties. The Convention obliges Parties to submit reports on the implementation of their obligations for "peer review" at meetings of the Parties to be held at the IAEA in Vienna once in every three years.

The Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management entered into force on 18 June 2001. Its aim is to legally commit the Parties to maintain a high level of safety of spent fuel management and radioactive waste management.

The Convention is an incentive instrument. It is not designed to ensure fulfilment of obligations by Parties through control and sanction for any non-compliance. The Convention obliges Contracting Parties to submit reports on the implementation of their obligations for peer review meetings of the Parties to be organized at the IAEA in Vienna once in every three years.

The PAA bears responsibility for the performance by Poland as the contracting party of below treaties, conventions and international agreements:

To ensure nuclear and radiological safety, the Republic of Poland signed a number of international bilateral agreements whose performance was entrusted to the PAA President. 

In order to ensure the exchange of experience with regard to regulation of nuclear power, the PAA signed agreements on cooperation between nuclear regulators from U.S. and France.  

Agreements on the basis of Convention on Early Notification of Nuclear Accident

The agreements concerning early notification of nuclear accident and exchange of information and experience were concluded with the neighbouring countries in accordance with the international Convention on Early Notification of Nuclear Accident (text of the Convention available on the IAEA site).

Poland has not got a nuclear power plant yet but in a distance of approximately 300 km from its borders there are 9 operating nuclear power plants (23 power reactor units) with the total gross installed power of around 15 GWe.

Due to the fact that these nuclear power plants operate in a close vicinity of the territory of Poland, the cooperation with nuclear regulators of the neighbouring countries, conducted in accordance with the aforementioned intergovernmental agreements, is an essential element of our radiation safety.

Poland concluded the below agreements with the following countries:

To assess possible radiation emergencies, the contracting parties to the above agreements apply consolidated criteria, provided for by the so called International Nuclear Event Scale – INES, which was developed by the IAEA.