The International Civil Liability Regime for Nuclear Energy: How Would it Respond to a Chernobyl Disaster of 2011?

Abstract

In the 21st century, nuclear energy, as one of the main energy resources, has reinvented itself as an environmentally friendly option, producing electricity without the air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions of coal, oil or gas. It provides about 5.8 % of the world's energy and 13.5 % of the world's electricity supply, with the United States (US), France, and Japan together accounting for almost half of the nuclear generated electricity. It is supposed to play a significant role in satisfying the increasing energy demand in all over the world. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) records, there are currently 442 nuclear power reactors in operation globally, with a total net installed capacity of 374.996 GW. On 11 March 2011, one of the significant earthquakes since 1900s occurred near the east coast of Honshu, Japan. Following the earthquake, a tsunami hit the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, with a combined power output of 4.7 Gwe, in the Futaba District of Fukushima Prefecture, resulting in nuclear meltdown and radiation release. The whole world is anxiously following the attempts to get the nuclear meltdown under control as soon as possible before more contamination occurs. The Fukushima incident seems to have dampened the positive atmosphere surrounding the nuclear industry once again, as the Chernobyl accident did decades ago. The Chernobyl accident caused tremendous damage to the environment and human health. The Chernobyl experience exposed the insufficiency of the international regulations in preventing and responding to such a catastrophic incident. Immediately following the Chernobyl incident, one of the issues handled by the international organizations was the civil liability regime of the nuclear industry. New protocols and conventions were signed to reinforce the present liability regime as well as the nuclear safety standards and international cooperation. This study gives an overview of the current civil liability regime for nuclear energy which is based on two main conventions, and examines its adequacy in preventing and responding to Chernobyl, if it were to occur again in 2011. The study commences with a historical overview of civil liability regime. The existing regime is then elaborated in terms of its key features. Next, it briefly highlights the events of Chernobyl in 1986 and examines how the existing liability regime would respond to it if it occurred in 2011.