Reflections on the development of international nuclear law by Vanda Lamm  1. Introduction Over the course of more than seven decades, treaty norms on the production and utilisation of nuclear energy have been developed, which together form a special section within international law. These norms are the consequence of the unique nature of the field, namely that on the one hand some aspects of the uses of nuclear energy should be covered by totally new and special norms (e.g. in the field of disarmament, seeking to eliminate or at least to control the spread of nuclear weapons, and nuclear weapons tests) and on the other that several traditional legal solutions were not suitable for the problems that emerged in connection with other uses of nuclear energy (like liability). In the following article, three aspects of the development of that special section of international law will be explored, namely: the close connections between the regulation of peaceful and military uses of nuclear energy; the effects of nuclear catastrophes on the development of international nuclear legislation and the interaction between soft law norms and binding norms in the area of nuclear law. 2. Two-tier approach in nuclear energy regulation Since atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II (on 6 and 9 August 1945), 1 nuclear disarmament has been a primary concern for humankind. Several nuclear disarmament treaties have been signed in the 70 or so years that have elapsed since then, 2 yet the complete elimination of nuclear weapons remains a distant goal. This was acknowledged by the International Court of Justice in its Advisory Opinion on the “Legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons”, when it stated that “There is in neither customary nor conventional international law any comprehensive and universal prohibition of the threat or use of nuclear  Emerita Professor of International Law (Social Research Centre, Hungarian Academy of Sciences; Széchenyi István University, Győr, Hungary). 1 The bombings caused the death of over 130 000 people in the space of a few seconds, and many others were killed by radiation. 2 The most important are the:  Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Test in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water (1963), 480 UNTS 43, entered into force 10 October 1963;  Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (1968), IAEA Doc. INFCIRC/140, 729 UNTS 169, entered into force 5 March 1970 (NPT);  Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (1996) (not yet entered into force), available at: www.ctbto.org/fileadmin/content/treaty/treaty_text.pdf (Nuclear Test Ban Treaty);  Interim Agreement between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on Certain Measures with respect to the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (1972), entered into force 3 October 1972 (SALT I);  Treaty between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, Together with Agreed Statements and Common Understandings regarding the Treaty (1979), did not enter into force (SALT II);  Treaty between the United States of America and the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics on Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (1991), entered into force 5 December 1994 (START I);  Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (1993) (not yet entered into force) (START II); and  nuclear weapons free zone treaties.