P 241458Z JUN 09
FM USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA
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UNCLAS UNVIE VIENNA 000302 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TSPA UNGA UNPUOS AORC ENRG TRGY AORC KNNP OTRA AU VE
 
SUBJECT: COPUOS: Adoption of SAFETY FRAMEWORK FOR NUCLEAR POWER 
SOURCE APPLICATIONS at 52nd Session June 3-12, 2009 
 
REF:  A. UNVIE VIENNA 000103 
      ¶B. STATE 05545 
 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  At the June 3-12, 2009 session of the United 
Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS), 
the joint Scientific and Technical Subcommittee (STSC)-International 
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safety Framework for the Use of Nuclear 
Power Source (NPS) Applications in Outer Space was approved.  This 
marked the end of a multi-year effort by the STSC to develop an 
international framework of goals and recommendations for the safety 
of NPS applications in outer space.  The new Framework was developed 
jointly by the STSC NPS Working Group and the IAEA and its 
successful conclusion marks a unique collaboration between the two 
organizations.  The Framework had been approved by the STSC at its 
annual meeting in February (Ref A), and by the IAEA at its 
Commission on Safety Standards meeting in April. The development of 
the Safety Framework also proved to be a good example of 
U.S.-Russian Federation cooperation.  The two nations with the most 
experience in space NPS applications worked together in ensuring 
that the Framework's development was successful and did not include 
provisions that would have impeded safe and useful national and 
international employment of NPS in outer space.  END SUMMARY. 
 
---------- 
BACKGROUND 
---------- 
 
¶2.  (U) The use of nuclear power sources in space has been an issue 
of concern for the international community since the 1960s when the 
Soviet Union began launching its Radar Ocean Reconnaissance 
Satellites (RORSATs), powered by nuclear reactors using uranium-235. 
 One RORSAT, Cosmos 954, failed to achieve proper orbit and 
re-entered the Earth's atmosphere in January, 1978, crashing in 
Canada's Northwest Territories and spilling radioactive fuel over a 
large area.  Another nuclear reactor-powered satellite, Cosmos 1402, 
failed to boost into storage orbit in late 1982 and the reactor core 
landed in the South Atlantic in February, 1983. 
 
¶3.  (U) As a result of concerns over the Cosmos reactor crashes and 
the Soviet Union's continuing use of such satellites, UNCOPUOS, 
through its Legal Subcommittee, drafted a set of non-binding 
principles that were adopted by the General Assembly in 1992.   The 
U.S. took the view that the UN Principles Relevant to the Use of 
Nuclear Power Sources in Outer Space did not provide sufficient 
technical clarity in some instances for developing national and 
international safety frameworks.  For that reason, the U.S. has led 
efforts since the mid-1990s in UNCOPUOS to develop a safety 
framework for the use of nuclear power sources in space that would 
serve as a guide for countries to use in their respective national 
legislation and regulatory regimes. 
 
---------------------------- 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE FRAMEWORK 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) Initial planning for the Framework began at the STSC's 
fortieth session in 2003, when the Committee adopted a work plan for 
2003-2006 for developing the objectives, scope and attributes of an 
international, technically-based framework of goals and 
recommendations for assuring the safety of planned and currently 
foreseeable space nuclear power source applications.  This 
specification for the framework, along with an assessment of 
potential STSC implementation options involving the IAEA for 
developing the framework, was accomplished by the STSC Working Group 
on NPS, chaired by Sam Harbison of the United Kingdom.  U.S. 
participants in the working group included representatives from the 
Department of Energy and NASA.    The IAEA actively participated in 
carrying out this work plan. 
 
¶5.  (U) At the forty-fourth STSC session in 2007, a new multi-year 
work plan was approved for the joint  development of the safety 
framework, a set of voluntary measures that could be used to 
establish national and international intergovernmental mechanisms to 
ensure the safe development space missions employing NPS 
applications. 
 
¶6.  (U) At the forty-sixth session in 2009, one year earlier than 
scheduled, the STSC approved the Safety Framework; it was 
subsequently approved by the IAEA at its April 2009 meeting of the 
Commission on Safety Standards.  The Safety Framework is expected to 
be endorsed by the UN General Assembly in late 2009, with the 
approval of the 2009 UNCOPUOS report.  The IAEA has commenced the 
publication of hard copies of the Safety Framework.  The Safety 
Framework will also be posted to the IAEA and United Nations Office 
for Outer Space Affairs web sites. 
 
¶7.  (U) Throughout the development of the Safety Framework, U.S. 
experts worked to ensure that measures included in the document 
represented best practices of U.S. nuclear, defense, and civil space 
agencies. 
 
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Comment 
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¶8.  (U) U.S. and Russian Federation experts worked together in a 
coordinated effort that facilitated the successful development of 
the Framework and ensured that it did not include provisions which 
would actually impede the safe and useful employment of NPS in outer 
space.  End comment. 
 
PYATT