2 Aug (NucNet): The European Commission (EC) has launched a consultation on whether common European Union rules are needed on insurance and compensation for nuclear accidents.
The EC said that at EU level, nuclear liability regimes remain governed by national laws, which in 23 out of 28 member states reflect the provisions of either the Paris or the Vienna conventions.
But the EC acknowledged that the amounts of compensation provided “do not reflect the potential costs of a severe nuclear accident in a nuclear power plant”.
It said the gap between the potential costs and the effective amounts for which nuclear operators are insured could create problems, with victims “probably not being treated equally”.
Operator liability for countries with commercially operational nuclear plants ranges from 49.1 million euros (EUR) (64.8 million US dollars) in Bulgaria to unlimited in some member states. In Italy, which has four permanently shut-down reactors, operator liability is EUR 5.4 million.
The consultation, which will last until 22 October 2013, will also help decide whether common EU rules should be fixed through a binding law, or through non-binding recommendations.
The Brussels-based nuclear energy industry association Foratom said EU member states apply different national liability regimes. Some are parties to the Paris Convention on nuclear liability, others to the Vienna Convention. Some have adhered to the 1988 Joint Protocol that links the two conventions.
Some member states have signed revisions to the conventions that significantly increase the amount of compensation for damages, broaden the scope of damages to include environmental damage, and lengthen the period during which claims can be brought from 10 to 30 years.
More details of the consultation are online:
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/nuclear/consultations/20130718_powerplants_en.htm
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To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Dalton at david.dalton@nucnet.org
