Environmental radiological protection and nuclear law: from the protection of humans to the protection of the environment per se?

Abstract

In recent decades, there has been a growing awareness that nuclear law needs to address the question of the effects of ionising radiation on the environment and on nature. This is the result of long debates among environmental ethicists on the intrinsic value of nature and non-human species, including the question of who or what has moral and legal standing. How are non-human species protected from hazardous effects of ionising radiations by nuclear law? After some environmental ethics considerations, the paper reviews the current radiological protection approach in the international and European legislations, before asking the current content of the concept of compensation for damage to the environment in the nuclear liability system.