Towards effective regulation of sea based transboundary movement of nuclear wastes.

Abstract

We live in a world that is continuously aware of the risk posed by global warming. Fuel sources that emit carbon dioxide and other green house gases are critically viewed. There is a growing demand to "go-green" in every industry. Carbon trading is a fast growing trade and every country especially in the developed world is being called upon to observe and adhere to the Kyoto Protocol and whatever instrument that will succeed it, be it the Copenhagen Accord or any other instrument. There is also the call to undertake roll back measures to cut back on emissions. This continuous push has led many nations to seek alternative energy sources, such as wind power, solar power and of course nuclear power. The 44th President of America, Mr. Barrack Obama, commenced his term on inter-alia the promise to seek alternative sources of fuel that will not contribute to global warming, while reducing America's reliance on foreign oil. Several nations such as Japan, the United Kingdom, and France all have embraced nuclear power as one key alternative to carbon based fuels. Indeed even North Korea and India keep pushing for their right to develop nuclear power as a source of energy. This new drive to go green raises myriad questions, for instance with regard to obligations under the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT). However such issues are outside the scope of this paper. The primary issues that concern this paper are different threats posed by the reliance on nuclear power; it is the reality that utility of nuclear power is attended by production of highly toxic non-biodegradable waste (herein called ultra hazardous materials).