Nuclear Terrorism Convention

The Convention covers a broad range of acts and possible targets, including nuclear power plants and nuclear reactors; covers threats and attempts to commit such crimes or to participate in them, as an accomplice; stipulates that offenders shall be either extradited or prosecuted; encourages States to cooperate in preventing terrorist attacks by sharing information and assisting each other in connection with criminal investigations and extradition proceedings; and, deals with both crisis situations, assisting States to solve the situations and post-crisis situations by rendering nuclear material safe through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In April 2005, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the draft International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism by consensus as Resolution A/RES/59/290 during its 91st plenary meeting. Prior to that, negotiations were conducted through sessions of an Ad Hoc Working Group and the Legal (Sixth) Committee from 1999 to 2005—spanning the fifty‑fourth to fifty‑ninth General Assembly sessions—to finalize the text.

Following adoption, the Convention was opened for signature at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 14 September 2005 until 31 December 2006 in accordance with Article 24. It formally entered into force on 7 July 2007, which occurred 30 days after the deposit of the twenty‑second instrument of ratification in line with Article 25(1) of the Convention.

Definition of the crime of nuclear terrorism

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The Convention defines offences as committed when a person unlawfully and intentionally engages in specific conduct involving radioactive material or nuclear facilities. This includes any person who possesses radioactive material or makes or possesses a device either with an intention to cause harm to human beings or to the environment. It further criminalizes any person who misuses radioactive material or poses a threat to any nuclear facility. The provisions of the convention establish a clear threshold of criminal liability based on both the unlawfulness of the conduct and the presence of specific harmful intents.

The Convention clearly defines its limits. It does not override existing international laws, especially those under the UN Charter or international humanitarian law. It also does not apply to the conduct of armed forces during armed conflict or to official military duties by State forces, as long as those actions are already covered by other international legal rules. Importantly, this exclusion doesn’t mean such acts are automatically lawful—they can still be prosecuted under other applicable laws. The Convention also avoids taking any position on whether the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons by States is legal. Overall, it works within existing international legal frameworks without changing the legal status of military actions or nuclear weapons.