| Nuclear powered merchant ships have become one of the most promising solutions to achieve the carbon emission reduction goal of the shipping industry because of their advantages such as high fuel efficiency,long transportation distance and zero carbon emission.However,their potential nuclear pollution risk has become a major obstacle to their navigation.This thesis takes the right of innocent passage in the territorial sea,which is an important part of the navigation rights of nuclear powered merchant ships,as the research object,in order to seize the opportunity for our country in the new round of shipping industry revolution and compete for the right to speak in the formulation of relevant international rules.In addition to the introduction and conclusion,the text is divided into four chapters.The first chapter is an overview of the right of innocent passage.This thesis introduces the generation and development process of the right of innocent passage and the meaning of the right of innocent passage,makes it clear that the right of innocent passage is an open and dynamic concept,and analyzes the controversial issues in the basic theory of the right of innocent passage.On this basis,this chapter also introduces the particularity of the right of innocent passage of nuclear powered merchant ships.The second chapter is the challenges faced by the innocent passage right of nuclear powered merchant ships,which is explained from three aspects: the relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention on the law of the sea,the formation trend of relevant international customary law and the precautionary principle.First from the perspective of the United Nations Convention on the law of the sea,which mainly analyzes the difficulties existing in the application of the right of innocent passage by nuclear powered commercial ships in the territorial sea in combination with the relevant provisions of section 3 of Part 2 and the relevant provisions of Part 12 on the protection and preservation of the marine environment.Then,from the perspective of international customary law,through the statements made by countries when they joined the United Nations Convention on the law of the sea,national legislation and relevant national practice,it shows that there is a trend of stricter international customary law on the innocent passage right of nuclear powered merchant ships in the world.Finally,from the perspective of the precautionary principle from international environmental law,based on the analysis of the principle itself,this thesis explains its potential impact on the innocent passage right of nuclear powered merchant ships in the territorial sea.The third chapter is the reasons why the innocent passage right of nuclear powered merchant ships is facing challenges.The author believes that the fundamental reason is that the international rules related to the prevention and control of nuclear pollution of nuclear powered merchant ships are not perfect,resulting in the inability to effectively control the potential nuclear pollution risk of nuclear powered merchant ships.The international rules of nuclear pollution prevention and control are mainly composed of three aspects: the jurisdiction system of nuclear pollution prevention and control,the specific standard rules of nuclear pollution prevention and control,and the rules of liability for nuclear damage,all of which are imperfect.The fourth chapter is the countermeasures to realize the innocent passage right of nuclear powered merchant ships.The specific countermeasures at the level of international law are as follows: 1.In terms of the jurisdiction of ship pollution prevention and control,an independent and professional third-party international organization shall be introduced to track,inspect,evaluate and certify the ship design and construction,and the relevant evaluation report shall be used as the basis for obtaining the Ship Nationality Registration of nuclear powered commercial ships;2.consummate the specific standard rules for nuclear pollution prevention and control of nuclear powered merchant ships and the rules on liability for nuclear damage,clarify the conditions for nuclear powered merchant ships to pass through the territorial sea of coastal States,and make up for the shortcomings of existing international rules.In addition,combined with relevant foreign legislation and China’s current regulations,this chapter also analyzes how to adjust China’s domestic law from the perspectives of flag state and coastal state. |
