Fourth International Workshop on the Indemnification of Damage in the Event of a Nuclear Accident

The Fourth International Workshop on the Indemnification of Damage in the Event of a Nuclear Accident aimed to explore the practical application of the international nuclear third party liability instruments, including with regard to non-convention States, in case a nuclear incident occurred at a nuclear installation.

Organisers

The workshop was co-organised by the Instituto Superior Técnico and the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon (Portugal), and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA). 

Background

After two successful workshops on the Indemnification of Damage in the Event of a Nuclear Accident organised in France in 2001 and in the Slovak Republic in 2005 , the NEA organised the 3rd International Workshop on the Indemnification of Damage in the Event of a Nuclear Accident in co‑operation with the Nuclear Regulatory Authority of the Slovak Republic in October 2017 . This Workshop assessed the practical implementation of currently applicable international nuclear third party liability conventions in conjunction, among others, with non‑convention States regimes, assuming all modernised international instruments have come into force. Over 170 participants from 33 NEA member and non‑member countries attended the Workshop. The programme and discussions followed a specific scenario (a nuclear incident occurring at a nuclear installation which would cause transboundary damage) and the sessions were prepared based on responses to a tailored questionnaire gathered by the NEA Secretariat from 27 NEA member and non‑member countries.

The 4th International Workshop on the Indemnification of Damage in the Event of a Nuclear Accident continued the exploration of the practical application of the international nuclear third party liability instruments in the event of a nuclear accident occurring at a nuclear installation. It addressed, in much more detail, topics identified by the 2017 Bratislava workshop participants for further discussion, e.g. the determination of the nuclear damage to be compensated and transboundary claims handling.

Programme

Comprehensive presentations were delivered by renowned specialists in nuclear law from international organisations, governments, and private industry.

The workshop assessed the implementation of the following instruments:

  • the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy and the Brussels Supplementary Convention, both as amended by the 2004 Protocols
  • the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage and the 1997 Protocol to amend the Vienna Convention
  • the Joint Protocol relating to the application of the Vienna Convention and the Paris Convention
  • the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage.

The Programme of the workshop can be consulted here.

Sponsorship

The workshop benefitted from the support of Banco Santander, S.A.

Language

All presentations, discussions and materials were in English. Simultaneous interpretation was not available during the workshop.

Venue

The Workshop was held at the Teatro Thalia, located in Lisbon, Portugal, at the following address:

Estrada das Laranjeiras, 211
1649-018 Lisboa

Further information on the Teatro Thalia is available at this address.

Participants area

If you attended the 2019 Lisbon Workshop, you may access the Participants Area by clicking on the button below:

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Please note that personal access codes are necessary to access the Participants Area. If you forgot your codes, please e-mail lisbon2019@oecd-nea.org