Liability for Payment of Damages Caused by Nuclear Accidents - Essay Example

The Paris and Vienna Conventions place absolute liability on nuclear operators and the subsequent Compensation Convention places responsibility on nuclear states to provide supplementary funds for victims who have claims against nuclear operators under the Paris or Vienna Conventions or similarly structured national laws. Given the limited means of insurance for nuclear operators, and states’ general obligations under customary international law to contain environmental damages, together with obligations under the Compensation Convention, states bear primary responsibility for compensating victims of nuclear damages.

Or should the status quo remain in which states via international obligations and the auspices of compensation funds be primarily responsible for compensating victims of nuclear incidents or accidents? This research paper argues that both the nuclear operator and the state should equally share responsibility for compensating victims of nuclear incidents or accidents.

Table of Contents Abstract 2 Introduction 4 Background and Overview: Nuclear Accidents and Liability Under International Law 6 The Nuclear Operator 9 The Nuclear State 14 Compensation Funds 16 Analysis 18 Conclusion 21 Bibliography 22 Introduction The international legal framework for establishing and recovering damages resulting from nuclear accidents is governed by three international instruments. The instruments are the Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy 1968 [hereinafter the Paris Convention], the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage, 1977 [Hereinafter the Vienna Convention] and the Joint Protocol Relating to the Application of the Vienna Convention and the Paris Convention, 1988 [Hereinafter the Joint Protocol].

The Vienna Convention is vastly similar to the Paris Convention and this is reflected in the Joint Protocol. Essentially, the international legal framework forms the basis of member states’ national laws with respect to liability relative to nuclear accidents.1 Essentially, the international instruments on liability for nuclear accidents assign liability to the operator of nuclear facilities, with specific exceptions. This is problematic for uniformity in assigning liability since the international instruments are only binding on member states.