CYIL 2015

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JAKUB HANDRLICA

CYIL 6 ȍ2015Ȏ

Further, the Convention defines the term “nuclear installation” as

“any nuclear

reactor other than one with which a means of sea or air transport is equipped for use as a

source of power, whether for propulsion thereof or for any other purpose; any factory using

nuclear fuel

for the production of nuclear material,

or any factory for the processing

of nuclear material, including any factory for the re-processing of irradiated nuclear fuel;

and any facility where nuclear material is stored, other than storage incidental to the

carriage of such material.”

Consequently, one of the key issues of nuclear liability is

to identify those facilities covered by the special

régime

created by the Convention.

It is a matter of fact that, since the adoption of the Convention, this issue has

been the subject of various academic discussions.

Unlike the Paris Convention on

Nuclear Third Party Liability of 1960 (hereinafter “the Paris Convention”),

the

Vienna Convention does not envisage the inclusion of other nuclear installations

by a decision taken by a competent international body.

The absence of a provision

to this effect may be seen as precluding the possibility of taking into account recent

or future developments and covering additional types of installations which may

involve risks of a considerable magnitude, such as radioactive waste disposal facilities,

installations in the process of being decommissioned or other types of nuclear

installations.

facilities at the site. Similarly, damages arising from a fire in one of the administrative buildings at the

site are not to be considered as “nuclear damage” pursuant to the Convention. However, if such a fire

“arises out of or results from radioactive properties”, damages occurred are to be considered as “nuclear”

in the sense of the Convention.

“Nuclear fuel” means any material which is capable of producing energy by a self-sustaining chain

process of nuclear fission (Art. I, Par. 1 letter /f/).

“Nuclear material” means nuclear fuel, other than natural uranium and depleted uranium, capable of

producing energy by a self-sustaining chain process of nuclear fission outside a nuclear reactor, either

alone or in combination with some other material; and radioactive products or waste (Art. I, Par. 1

letter /h/).

See WOLFF, K. The Vienna International Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage, In

WEINSTEIN, J. (ed.):

Nuclear liability, progress in nuclear energy

, Series X, Vol. 4, Oxford: Pergamon

Press, 1966, pp. 1-22.

The Paris Convention on Nuclear Third Party Liability of 1960 was adopted under the auspices of the

OECD Nuclear Energy Agency and covers most Western European countries (Belgium, Denmark,

Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,

Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom).

The Paris Convention provides in its Art. 1, Par. a/, letter ii/, that “nuclear installations” means “reactors

other than those comprised in any means of transport; factories for the manufacture or processing of

nuclear substances; factories for the separation of isotopes of nuclear fuel; factories for the reprocessing

of irradiated nuclear fuel; facilities for the storage of nuclear substances other than storage incidental to

the carriage of such substances; and such other installations in which there are nuclear fuel or radioactive

products or waste as the Steering Committee for Nuclear Energy of the Organisation (hereinafter

referred to as the “Steering Committee”) shall from time to time determine; any Contracting Party

may determine that two or more nuclear installations of one operator which are located on the same

site shall, together with any other premises on that site where radioactive material is held, be treated as

a single nuclear installation.”