Nuclear Safeguards Act 2000

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Nuclear Safeguards Act 2000
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (variant 1, 1952-2022).svg
Long title An Act to enable effect to be given to the protocol signed at Vienna on 22nd September 1998 additional to the agreement for the application of safeguards in the United Kingdom in connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; to allow effect to be given to that agreement in certain territories outside the United Kingdom; and for connected purposes.
Introduced bySecond Reading 4 October 2000, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Dr. Kim Howells (Commons)
Dates
Royal assent 25 May 2000
Status: Amended

The Nuclear Safeguards Act 2000 (2000 c. 5) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom. Its effect was to enact in the UK the provisions of the 1998 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Contents

Background

Prior to the Gulf war Iraq had been undertaking a secret nuclear weapons programme, despite having a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency. [1] It was therefore thought appropriate to strengthen the international nuclear safeguards system by allowing the agency rights of access to nuclear facilities. These new powers were enacted by the provisions of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of 22 September 1998. [1]

The act gives the UK Government the power to provide a strengthened nuclear safeguards system in the United Kingdom. It provides an additional protocol to the nuclear safeguards agreement with the European Atomic Energy Community and the International Atomic Energy Agency. [1]

Provisions

Long title: An Act to enable effect to be given to the protocol signed at Vienna on 22nd September 1998 additional to the agreement for the application of safeguards in the United Kingdom in connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; to allow effect to be given to that agreement in certain territories outside the United Kingdom; and for connected purposes. [2]

The Act received Royal Assent on 25th May 2000. [2]

The Act comprises 12 Sections: [2]

See also

Atomic Energy Authority Act

Atomic Energy Research Establishment

Atomic Weapons Research Establishment

Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom

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References


  1. 1 2 3 "Hansard Commons 4 October 2000" . Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 "Nuclear Safeguards Act 2000" . Retrieved 30 August 2024.