S.I. No. 657/2003 - Containment of Nuclear Weapons Act, 2003 (Commencement) Order, 2003

1. This Order may be cited as the Containment of Nuclear Weapons Act 2003 (Commencement) Order 2003.

2. The 3

rd

day of December 2003 is hereby fixed as the day on which all of the provisions of the

Containment of Nuclear Weapons Act 2003

shall come into operation.

Given under the Official Seal of the Minister for the Environment,

Heritage and Local Government, this 2nd Day of December, 2003

Martin Cullen

Minister for the Environment,

Heritage, and Local Government

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This Note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation)

This Order brings into operation all of the provisions of the

Containment of Nuclear Weapons Act 2003

.

The Act provides the legislative basis to enable Ireland to implements its obligations under the Protocol Additional to the 1977 Nuclear Safeguards Agreement between the 13 non-nuclear weapons states of the European Atomic Energy Community, the European Atomic Energy Community and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The Safeguards Agreement was made in implementation of Article III (1) and (4) of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

The Safeguards Agreement is the means by which the IAEA verifies, through a system of inspections, etc., that Contracting Parties to the Agreement are acting in compliance with their international non-proliferation obligations. The Protocol is aimed at strengthening the effectiveness of the safeguards system by broadening the scope of the Agreement to include the collection and reporting by Contracting Parties of information in relation to specified nuclear and non-nuclear materials relating to the nuclear industry.

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage, and Local Government, in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by

Section 1

(2) of the

Containment of Nuclear Weapons Act, 2003

(No. 35 of 2003), hereby orders as follows