CYIL vol. 10 (2019)

CYIL 10 ȍ2019Ȏ HURDLING TOWARD THE PYRAMIDS OF THE NUCLEAR AGE: … reflecting the existence of a corresponding licence, by which the State authorized operation of the respective installation. Consequently, there is a clear link between the license issued by the corresponding authority overseeing nuclear safety and the liability regime. However, this does not necessary mean that after the repository will be decommissioned in the distant future and licensed activity will be ceased, no operator will be “recognisable”. In fact, also in that stage, installation will continue to exist in deep geological formations, which will still belong to a certain subject. 64 The ownership will not cease to exist with the decommissioning and the underground repository will not became a res nullius. Therefore, it is questionable whether the owner of the installation should not be recognised as an operator under the Vienna Convention. This short exposé showed that prospective developments in a distant future demonstrate the enigmatic character of the underground repository. There are several issues concerning future developments that remain to represent a pure speculation and consequently, deserve further clarification in the future. 4. Shared repositories The shared (international) repositories represent another topic that deserves attention when analysing the applicability of the Vienna Convention to underground repositories. The concept of shared repositories means to dispose spent fuel originating in several States in one facility. 65 Thus, the shared repositories will be able to decrease fixed costs to establish such a repository. 66 They will also contribute to increasing levels of nuclear security by minimizing potential targets for nuclear terrorists. Shared repositories are also considered more environmentally-friendly options, as they minimise environmental burdens as compared to the scenario of each State establishing its own repository. 67 Further, the concept of shared repositories can be of benefit to those small States that operate nuclear installations and produce spent fuel within their territory, but do not possess the necessary capacities to establish their own underground repository. And lastly, the idea of shared repositories also seems a suitable option for those States sharing the operation of certain nuclear installations. 68 In this respect, the potential establishment of shared repositories has been discussed by several Contracting Parties to the Vienna Convention. There have been discussions in this regard between Croatia (being Contracting Party to the Vienna Convention) and Slovenia (being Contracting Party to the Paris Convention), as they jointly operate a nuclear installation (civil nuclear power plant) in Krško. There have also been discussions regarding establishing a shared repository by the Czech Republic and Slovakia (both being Contracting Parties to the Vienna Convention). In the past decades, the issue was discussed also with respect to the potential operation of a shared

64 In a very similar fashion, also an operator of a nuclear installation, which is operated without a corresponding license, will be considered as a person recognised by the State to be the operator of the installation. 65 IAEA (ed), Viability of Sharing Facilities for the Disposal of Spent Fuel and Nuclear Waste (IAEA 2011) 3-5.

66 Ibid. 67 Ibid. 68 Ibid.

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