The Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material was signed at Vienna and at New York on 3 March 1980. The Convention is the only international legally binding undertaking in the area of physical protection of nuclear material. It establishes measures related to the prevention, detection and punishment of offenses relating to nuclear material. A Diplomatic Conference in July 2005 was convened to amend the Convention and strengthen its provisions. The amended Convention makes it legally binding for States Parties to protect nuclear facilities and material in peaceful domestic use, storage as well as transport. It also provides for expanded cooperation between and among States regarding rapid measures to locate and recover stolen or smuggled nuclear material, mitigate any radiological consequences of sabotage, and prevent and combat related offences. The amendments will take effect once they have been ratified by two-thirds of the States Parties of the Convention.

This publication reproduces the explanatory texts on the nuclear liability instruments adopted under the IAEA's auspices. Finalized by the International Expert Group on Nuclear Liability (INLEX), these texts constitute a comprehensive study and authoritative interpretation of the IAEA's nuclear liability regime. More particularly, the texts deal with the Protocol to Amend the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage and the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage. The publication also presents an overview and brings together the texts of the IAEA's nuclear liability instruments. Finally, it includes a matrix of comparative provisions in the various nuclear liability instruments, as well as the recommendations on how to achieve a global nuclear liability regime, which were adopted by INLEX in 2012 following a request by the IAEA Action Plan on Nuclear Safety.