Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy

Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy

Signed	29 July 1960 28 January 1964 (addnl Protocol) 16 November 1982 (Protocol) 12 February 2004 (Prototocol)[1]
Location	Paris
Effective	1 April 1968 (incl addn Protocol) 7 October 1988 (1982 Protocol) Not in force (2004 Prototocol)
Condition	5 ratifications
Signatories	19[1]
Parties	16 (Convention incl 1960 and 1982 protocols)[1] 2 (Protocol)
Depositary	Secretary-General of the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation presently: Secretary-general of the OECD
Languages	English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch[2][3][4][5]

The Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy is a 1960 OECD Convention on liability and compensation for damage caused by accidents occurring while producing nuclear energy.^[6][7] The convention entered into force on 1 April 1968 and has been amended by protocols in 1964, 1982, and 2004. The convention, as amended by the 1964 and 1982 protocols have 16 parties. The 2004 protocol has not entered into force. Austria and Luxembourg signed the convention but have not ratified it. Switzerland deposited its instruments of ratification for the convention as amended by the 2004 protocol. The convention will enter into force for this country once the 2004 protocol enters into force.

The convention:

• Limits liability to a certain amount and limit the period for making claims;
• Require insurance or other surety by operators;
• Channels liability exclusively to the operator of the nuclear installation;
• Impose strict liability on the nuclear operator, regardless of fault, but subject to exceptions.
• Grants exclusive jurisdiction to the courts of one country, normally the country in whose territory the incident occurs

Parties

A list of Parties to the convention (as amended by the 1964 and 1982 protocols), the 2004 protocol, as well as the Brussels protocol and the Joint protocol is shown below:

Country	Convention incl 1964 and 1982 Protocol	2004 Protocol	Brussels Protocol	Brussels Protocol 2004 amendment	Joint Protocol	(Territorial) application
Belgium	3 August 1966	—	20 August 1985	—	—
Denmark	4 September 1974	—	4 September 1974	—	26 May 1989	incl. Greenland (excl 1982 Protocol)
Finland	16 June 1972	—	14 January 1977	—	3 October 1994
France	9 March 1966	—	30 March 1966	—	—	incl 16 territories (excl Brussels Protocol)
Germany	16 June 1972	—	1 October 1975	—	13 June 2001
Greece	12 May 1970	—	—	—	16 May 2001
Italy	17 September 1975	—	3 February 1976	—	31 July 1991
Netherlands	28 December 1979	—	28 September 1979	—	1 August 1991	European territory only
Norway	2 July 1973	26 November 2010	7 July 1973	24 November 2010	11 March 1991
Portugal	29 September 1977	—	—	—	—
Slovenia	16 October 2001	—	5 June 2003	—	27 January 1995
Spain	31 October 1961	—	27 July 1966	12 January 2006	—
Sweden	1 April 1968	—	3 April 1968	—	27 January 1992
Switzerland	9 March 2009	9 March 2009	—	11 March 2009	—	Not applicable
Turkey	10 October 1961	—	—	—	26 March 2007
United Kingdom	23 February 1966	—	24 March 1966	—	—	incl. British Virgin Islands,[lower-alpha 1] Cayman Islands,[lower-alpha 1] Falkland Islands,[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 1] Gibraltar,[lower-alpha 1] Guernsey,[lower-alpha 2] Hong Kong,[lower-alpha 3] Jersey,[lower-alpha 4] Isle of Man, Montserrat,[lower-alpha 1] Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha[lower-alpha 1]

Notes

1. excluding the Brussels Protocol
2. excluding the 1982 Protocol
3. After the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong, the conventions remained in force
4. excluding the Paris convention and protocols

See also

• Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage
• Cost of electricity by source

References

1. "Paris Convention on Nuclear Third Party Liability: Latest status of ratifications or accessions". OECD. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
2. "Convention on Third Party Liability in the field of Nuclear Energy". Traktatenblad van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (27). 1961. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
3. "Additional Protocol to the Convention on Third Party Liability in the field of Nuclear Energy". Traktatenblad van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (178). 1964. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
4. "Protocol to amend the Convention on third party liability in the field of nuclear energy of 29th July 1960, as amended by the Additional Protocol of 28th January 1964". Traktatenblad van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (80). 1983. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
5. "Protocol to amend the convention on third party liability in the field of Nuclear energy of 29 july 1960, as amended by the additional protocol of 28 january 1964 and by the protocol of 16 november 1982" (PDF). OECD. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
6. Publications: Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy. International Atomic Energy Agency.
7. Convention on third party liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy. Nuclear Energy Agency of the OECD.

External links

• "Paris Convention on Nuclear Third Party Liability", oecd-nea.org.
• Text.
• Ratifications.
• NEA Issue Brief: International nuclear third party liability, An analysis of principal nuclear issues, No. 4 - 1st revision, November 1993.