Nuclear Energy Agency Online Bulletin

December 2001

Legal affairs news


INEX 2000 - Workshop on the Indemnification of Damage in the Event of a Nuclear Accident


The INEX Programme addresses Member countries' concerns to promote means of ensuring effective co-ordination between the various bodies which have a role to play in the event of a nuclear accident, in order to ensure rapid and efficient management of such a situation. The programme consists of a series of exercises simulating nuclear accidents in which interested countries may participate. As part of the INEX 2000 International Nuclear Emergency Exercise, a nuclear emergency exercise took place on 22-23 May 2001 at the Gravelines nuclear power plant in the north of France, and was followed on 26-28 November 2001 by a workshop on the Indemnification of Damage in the Event of a Nuclear Accident. This was the first time that third party liability aspects had been incorporated into the exercise. The workshop aimed to test the mechanisms which apply to the compensation of potential victims of such an accident, both in France and in affected neighbouring countries. With regard to the NEA, it was also deemed interesting to examine the manner in which the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy and the Brussels Supplementary Convention would be applied.

The workshop was organised in three main stages:

  • the alert phase: grave and imminent danger of a nuclear accident;
  • the accident phase: effective releases, possible damage; and
  • the post-accident phase: putting into operation most of the procedures to identify damage and provide compensation.

The following aspects were examined in particular: intervention of the nuclear operator's insurer, dissemination of information concerning the rights of potential victims and compensation claims, emergency assistance payments, compensation claims handling, and the interface between the accident State and the international nuclear third party liability regime.

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