The Convention on Assistance sets up a framework for states parties to co-operate amongst themselves and with the International Atomic Energy Agency to facilitate prompt assistance in the event of a nuclear accident or radiological emergency.

Adopted: 26 September 1986

Opened for signature: 26 September 1986 (Vienna) and 6 October 1986 (New York)

Entered into force: 26 February 1987

Parties: 127 (including EURATOM, FAO, WHO and WMO) (see table below)

More information on the Convention on Assistance, including the text and current status, is available here.

The text of the Convention on Assistance is also reproduced in the Supplement to Nuclear Law Bulletin No. 38.

The following articles related to the Convention on Assistance were published in the Nuclear Law Bulletin:

• The IAEA Conventions on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident and on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency, by B. Moser (NLB 44, p. 10).
• Inside nuclear baseball: Reflections on the development of the safety conventions, by C. Stoiber (NLB 100, p. 61).
• The impact of the major nuclear power plant accidents on the international legal framework for nuclear power, by S.G. Burns (NLB 101, p. 7), updated in Principles and Practice of International Nuclear Law, p. 83.