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Conclusions
Since the adoption of the Vienna Convention, the issue of its applicability
on various types of nuclear installations has been matter of scientific discussions.
When the Convention was drafted, the question of hazards arising from certain
uses of nuclear materials was not yet fully understood. The lack of explicit
provisions concerning these uses in the Convention is due to the fact that when
the Convention was drafted, the development of nuclear energy was in its infancy,
and there was little concern about activities at the back end of the fuel cycle.
However, most recently, problems are arising from disposal of radioactive waste,
decommissioning of nuclear installations and also from launching of new nuclear
technologies (e.g. floating nuclear power plants, nuclear fission, etc.) raised again
the questions concerning applicability of the liability regime of this Convention
on various types of technologies. In this respect, the Amended Vienna Convention
strengthens existing legal framework and constitutes appropriate tool to cope with
the challenges discussed in this contribution.
1.2 The 1997 Protocol to Amend the Vienna Convention
The European Union currently possesses exclusive competence as concerns
acceding to international treaties which govern matters of jurisdiction and judicial
co-operation. Consequently, the European Union is basically competent to accede
to those international agreements which contain special provisions regulating this
field.
63
However, there is a problem in relation to those international conventions
that
do not allow
accession of the European Union,
64
which is also the case with all
existing international nuclear liability conventions.
65
It is a matter of fact that it would be difficult to re-open negotiations in order
to introduce a clause permitting ratification by the European Atomic Energy
63
EECKHOUD, P.
External Relations of the European Union: Legal and Constitutional Foundations
,
Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 135
et seqq.
64
E.g. the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage of 2001
(the Bunkers Convention), the International Convention on Liability and Compensation for
Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea (the HNS
Convention), the Protocol of 2003 to the International Convention on the Establishment of an
International Fund for Oil Pollution Damage, etc.
65
The Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy of 1960, the Vienna
Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage of 1963, the Joint Protocol relating to the
Application of the Paris and Vienna Conventions of 1988, the Convention on Supplementary
Compensation of 1997, the Protocol to Amend the Vienna Convention of 1997, the Protocol to
Amend the Paris Convention of 2004.