United Nations Treaties And Principles On Outer Space

of the United Nations and the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of Statesin the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other CelestialBodies. 1Principle 2.Use of terms1. For the purpose of these Principles, the terms “launching State” and “Statelaunching” mean the State which exercises jurisdiction and control over aspace object with nuclear power sources on board at a given point in timerelevant to the principle concerned.2. For the purpose of principle 9, the definition of the term “launching State”as contained in that principle is applicable.3. For the purposes of principle 3, the terms “foreseeable” and “all possible”describe a class of events or circumstances whose overall probability ofoccurrence is such that it is considered to encompass only credible possibilitiesfor purposes of safety analysis. The term “general concept ofdefence-in-depth” when applied to nuclear power sources in outer spacerefers to the use of design features and mission operations in place of orin addition to active systems, to prevent or mitigate the consequences ofsystem malfunctions. Redundant safety systems are not necessarily requiredfor each individual component to achieve this purpose. Given thespecial requirements of space use and of varied missions, no particular setof systems or features can be specified as essential to achieve this objective.For the purposes of paragraph 2 (d) of principle 3, the term “madecritical” does not include actions such as zero-power testing which arefundamental to ensuring system safety.Principle 3.Guidelines and criteria for safe useIn order to minimize the quantity of radioactive material in space and the risksinvolved, the use of nuclear power sources in outer space shall be restricted to thosespace missions which cannot be operated by non-nuclear energy sources in a reasonableway.1. General goals for radiation protection and nuclear safety(a) States launching space objects with nuclear power sources on board shallendeavour to protect individuals, populations and the biosphere against radiologicalhazards. The design and use of space objects with nuclear power sources on boardshall ensure, with a high degree of confidence, that the hazards, in foreseeableoperational or accidental circumstances, are kept below acceptable levels as definedin paragraphs 1 (b) and (c).Such design and use shall also ensure with high reliability that radioactivematerial does not cause a significant contamination of outer space;49