On the Legal Mechanism of Nuclear Safety in China under the Background of Environmental Protection

Abstract

Background: Peaceful use of nuclear energy is of great significance for ensuring energy security, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and achieving sustainable development environmental-friendly. Nuclear safety is the premise and foundation for the development of civil nuclear power industry. As a country with the largest scale of nuclear power plants under construction, preventing accidents properly is the best way to ensure nuclear safety. However, under the background of environmental protection nowadays, China has only officially implemented two laws related to nuclear safety - the Law on Prevention and Control of Radioactive Pollution and Nuclear Safety Law. It cannot fully meet the needs of nuclear safety supervision in China.Methods: To highlight the problems in the current legal system pertaining to nuclear safety, a legislation study is used to analyze the current content of related legislation and regulations. Comparative methodology is also adopted in this paper to analyze the legislative and administrative experience of other countries with or without nuclear power industry and summarize the problems in the current legal system in China.Result: Currently, the development of nuclear safety law system reflects the historical process of the development and application of nuclear technology in China. China’s nuclear safety-related legislation closely fits the strategy of China’s nuclear technology development and application under the background of environmental protection. Even though, there are still deficiencies about China’s nuclear safety legal system now, for example: the atomic energy law is still absent in China, so pertaining measures must be taken to develop and improve the nuclear safety legal system in China as for not only promoting the development of nuclear industry but also avoiding radioactive pollution incidents and protecting environment. Moreover, there is a conflict between the concept of “nuclear safety” in the Nuclear Safety Law and its content.