The IAEA recently hosted the 21st meeting of International Expert Group on Nuclear Liability (INLEX), an advisory body to the IAEA Director General and the Director of the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA).
In her opening remarks, IAEA Legal Advisor and Director of OLA, Peri Lynne Johnson, emphasized that “despite the ongoing situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Group is expected not only to hear about national developments and make recommendations on future outreach activities, but also to discuss a number of substantive issues.”
The virtual meeting of 20 participants, from 28-30 April 2021, included discussions on liability issues concerning nuclear fusion facilities, the limitations on the operator’s right of recourse under the nuclear liability conventions and the exclusion of on-site property damage from the operator’s liability for nuclear damage. Given the complexity and sensitivity of such issues, these topics will remain on the agenda for the Group’s next meeting in April 2022.
INLEX was established in September 2003, comprising experts from around the world, including countries with and without nuclear power plants. It serves as a forum of expertise to advise on all issues relating to civil liability for nuclear damage, and it also assists the IAEA Secretariat in developing explanatory texts, training materials and conducting outreach activities in the field.
INLEX Recommendations on how to facilitate a global nuclear liability regime and the revised edition of 'The 1997 Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage and the 1997 Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage – Explanatory Texts' are available on the INLEX website.
