Paris and Vienna Nuclear Liability Conventions: Challenges for Insurers

Insurers have actively contributed to the negotiations on the revision of the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage and the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy. In the course of these negotiations they have pointed out that some of the proposals for revision may have consequences for insurers and could prove incapable of finding insurance support. This paper aims at explaining the revision related points, which could cause problems in respect of insurability. Furthermore, the writer takes the liberty to expand its scope to more generally include developments, which have the potential to influence the availability of insurance capacity. Therefore, also the insurance implications of the events of the 11th September 2001, in the USA will be dealt with. (author)