Senegal signed the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC) on 20 September 2011. The signing ceremony took place at the IAEA Headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on the second day of the Treaty Event.
Organized by the IAEA Office of Legal Affairs, the Treaty Event facilitates the universal adoption of Treaties related to nuclear safety, security and liability for nuclear damage. Earlier this year, at the Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety, ministers stressed the importance of strengthening the international nuclear safety regime.
Mr. Amadou Tidiane Ba, Senegal's Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, signed the CSC on behalf of his country, expressing his country's commitment to nuclear safety. Ms. Peri Lynne Johnson, Director of the IAEA Office of Legal Affairs, was also present at the ceremony on behalf of the Agency.
Senegal became the 15th signatory state of the Convention that currently has 4 contracting states that have ratified it: Argentina, Morocco, Romania and the United States of America. The CSC is set to come into force on the ninetieth day after the ratification by at least 5 states with a minimum of 400 000 units of installed nuclear capacity. The ceremony was a further step towards establishing a uniform global regime for the compensation of victims of a nuclear accident.
Background
Adopted on 12 September 1997, the Convention on the Compensation for Nuclear Damage was opened for signature at the IAEA's 41st General Conference in Vienna that same month. The CSC is consistent with principles set forth in previous international agreements governing nuclear liability, including the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage and the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy. It provides a bridge between these two regimes, is open to States that are party to neither of these two regimes, and establishes an international fund to increase the amount available to compensate victims. The CSC also allows for compensating civil damage occurring within a State's exclusive economic zone, including loss of tourism or fisheries related income. It also sets parameters on a nuclear operator's financial liability, time limits governing possible legal action, requires that nuclear operators maintain insurance or other financial security measures and provides for a single competent court to hear claims.