Centre for International Law Podcasts

Climate Change and Oceans

CIL Research Associate, Dita Liliansa, speaks to Dr Nilufer Oral, Director of CIL and Co-Chair of the ILC Study Group on Sea-Level Rise in relation to International Law,  about her  work as a climate change negotiator, her views on the relationship between climate change and oceans, the interactions between UNCLOS and the UN climate regime or any lack thereof, and the work of the ILC.

Nuclear Matters Ep 7: Nuclear Power Development and the IAEA Milestones Approach Part 2

The CIL Nuclear Law and Policy Team is joined in conversation by Mr Anthony Kenneth Stott, an international expert on nuclear power infrastructure development, environmental protection and stakeholder engagement and formerly of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This episode provides an overview of the different forms of assistance provided by the IAEA to its Member States considering deploying nuclear power. It also discusses the adherence by States to the Milestones Approach as well as the application of the Milestones Approach to new technology. This is the second and final part of a two-part podcast on nuclear power development and the IAEA Milestones Approach.

Note: The opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speaker and do not represent the views of the Centre for International Law. Although the speaker was formerly from the IAEA, the speaker does not speak on behalf of the IAEA and relies on his experience whilst working at the IAEA, among others.

Nuclear Matters Ep 6: Nuclear Power Development and the IAEA Milestones Approach Part 1

The CIL Nuclear Law and Policy Team is joined in conversation by Mr Anthony Kenneth Stott, an international expert on nuclear power infrastructure development, environmental protection and stakeholder engagement and formerly of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This episode provides an overview of the Milestones Approach, a programme management guide designed to assist States with the safe, secure and sustainable development of nuclear power. This is the first part of a two-part podcast on nuclear power development and the IAEA Milestones Approach.

Note: The opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speaker and do not represent the views of the Centre for International Law. Although the speaker was formerly from the IAEA, the speaker does not speak on behalf of the IAEA and relies on his experience whilst working at the IAEA, among others.

Nuclear Matters Ep 5: Fundamentals of Nuclear Liability

The CIL Nuclear Law and Policy Team is joined in conversation by Ms Ximena Vasquez-Maignan, Head, Office of Legal Counsel, OECD Nuclear Energy Agency. This episode looks at the big picture – the rationale for a special liability regime for transboundary nuclear damage and the competing interests it seeks to balance. It also provides an overview of the international nuclear liability framework as it stands today and highlights the capacity-building activities of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency which are open to all interested parties, including those from non-OECD countries within the region. You may wish to download a diagrammatic overview of the international nuclear liability framework for reference prior to tuning in to the podcast.

The opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speaker(s) and do not represent the views of the Centre for International Law.

 

 

Nuclear Matters Ep 4: Fundamentals of Nuclear Safeguards and the Interrelationships between Safety, Security and Safeguards

The CIL Nuclear Law and Policy Team is joined in conversation by Dr Charles D Ferguson, Director of Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and former President of the Federation of American Scientists. This episode touches on nuclear non-proliferation and the role of safeguards and the difference between nuclear security and nuclear safeguards. The interrelationships between nuclear safety, security and safeguards are also discussed. This is the fourth and last of a four-part series on the fundamentals of nuclear safety, security and safeguards and their inter-relationships.

Note: The opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speaker(s) and do not represent the views of the Centre for International Law.

Nuclear Matters Ep 3: Fundamentals of Nuclear Security

The CIL Nuclear Law and Policy Team is joined in conversation by Dr Charles D Ferguson, Director of Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and former President of the Federation of American Scientists. This episode addresses the complex question of what is nuclear security and how it differs from nuclear safety including the difference in their accompanying cultures. The role of the design-basis threat assessment in nuclear security planning is also discussed. This is the third of a four-part series on the fundamentals of nuclear safety, security and safeguards and their inter-relationships.

Note: The opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speaker(s) and do not represent the views of the Centre for International Law. 

Nuclear Matters Ep 2: Fundamentals of Nuclear Safety

The CIL Nuclear Law and Policy Team is joined in conversation by Dr Charles D Ferguson, Director of Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and former President of the Federation of American Scientists. This episode touches on key nuclear safety concepts such as safety culture and defence-in-depth; the different reactor technologies and their safety features and safety concerns surrounding nuclear waste. This is the second of a four-part series on the fundamentals of nuclear safety, security and safeguards and their inter-relationships. 

Note: The opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speaker(s) and do not represent the views of the Centre for International Law.

 

Nuclear Matters Ep 1: Backgrounder on the Fundamentals of Nuclear Safety, Security and Safeguards

The CIL Nuclear Law and Policy Team is joined in conversation by Dr Charles D Ferguson, Director of Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and former President of the Federation of American Scientists. In this episode, key concepts relevant to understanding nuclear safety, security and safeguards including the difference between nuclear energy and nuclear power, ionising radiation and the nuclear fuel cycle are discussed. This is the first of a four-part series on the fundamentals of nuclear safety, security and safeguards and their inter-relationships.

Note: The opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speaker(s) and do not represent the views of the Centre for International Law.

 

Nuclear Matters Ep 0: Introduction to Nuclear Law and Policy - A New Focus for CIL

CIL Head of Nuclear Law and Policy, Denise Cheong, provides an overview of how and why nuclear law and policy became a new focus area at CIL and introduces “Nuclear Matters at CIL”

CIL Podcast: In Conversation with Dean Simon Chesterman

Dr Romesh Weeramantry, Head of International Dispute Resolution at CIL, speaks to the Dean of the NUS Law Faculty, Professor Simon Chesterman, about The Oxford Handbook of International Law in Asia and the Pacific, which Dean Chesterman co-edited with Judge Hisashi Owada and Professor Ben Saul. The podcast also covers current issues such as the regional strategic competition between the U.S. and China, and the international response to COVID-19, as well as Dean Chesterman’s advice to young scholars on research and writing. 

 

One of the many subjects covered in the podcast relates to the role international law can play in international affairs. Dean Chesterman observes that he sometimes sees international law as:

 

‘[T]he grammar of international relations. If you break grammatical rules, you don’t go to prison but you make less sense… you are less able to persuade people to come onto your side and as a result costs ensue…. I hope that international law will provide the kind of language that will encourage the better angels of the great powers like the United States and China… to avoid a major fight…. And the hope is that international law can provide a convening space where the United States, China and others can get together, but also [provide] a mediating forum where the tensions can be resolved without a rift and certainly one hopes without a war.'