Nuclear liability. An exotic field?

Nuclear liability law, with its regulations about the civil liability of the operator of a nuclear facility for any damage caused by a nuclear event, is one of the earliest fields of international nuclear law. The Paris Nuclear Liability Convention (1960) and that of Vienna (1963) lasted for a long time. They contain important principles of liability. The introduction of unlimited liability in the German Atomic Energy Act in 1985 marked an important paradigm shift with international ramifications. Accordingly, the operator of a German nuclear facility is liable with his entire assets. Over the past few years, nuclear liability has been developed further in several agreements, both on a European and an international level. The legal subject matter of - international - nuclear liability incorporates the same amount of dynamism as the advanced development of technical nuclear safety. The existence of a functioning system of nuclear liability is not insignificant when it comes to the acceptance of nuclear power. (orig.)