The 20th Anniversary of the establishment of the International Expert Group on Nuclear Liability (INLEX), was marked at an event on the margins of the 67th IAEA General Conference, this week in Vienna, Austria.
Established in September 2003 by the Director General, INLEX consists of experts from around the world with recognized competence in the field of civil liability for nuclear damage and related issues, including from countries with and without nuclear power reactors. These expert members serve in their individual capacity and do not represent their government or organization.
Over the past two decades, INLEX has served as a forum of expertise exploring and advising on issues related to nuclear liability, with an aim of enhancing global adherence by nuclear and non-nuclear power generating countries to the Global Nuclear Liability Regime on the basis of the nuclear liability instruments adopted under the auspices of the IAEA. In this context, the group has also assisted the Secretariat in the development and strengthening of national nuclear liability legal frameworks.
At the ceremony, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi spoke of the contributions of the Expert Group given that nuclear liability is an important topic in enabling nuclear energy to function as a reliable solution to the world’s energy problems: “Since its establishment in September 2003, INLEX has played an important role in raising awareness and understanding of the different nuclear liability instruments adopted under the IAEA’s auspices and providing advice and guidance on nuclear liability issues.”
An important milestone came in 2007 with the finalisation of explanatory texts on the nuclear liability instruments adopted under the IAEA’s auspices in 1997, namely, the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage and the 1997 Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage. Revised texts were most recently published in 2017 (IAEA International Law Series No. 3 (Revised)). In 2012, the Group adopted recommendations to facilitate the achievement of the Global Nuclear Liability Regime, as requested by the IAEA Action Plan on Nuclear Safety. In 2022, the Group adopted a statement on the benefits of joining the Global Nuclear Liability Regime.
Peri Lynne Johnson, Legal Advisor of the IAEA and Director of the Office of Legal Affairs, which provides the Secretariat for INLEX, expressed her appreciation for the work of the Expert Group: “The highly specialised character of this part of nuclear law can at times involve complicated legal and practical issues, including those related to the geographical scope of application, jurisdiction of the competent court, the types of compensable damage and compensation schemes. Navigating these and other matters is not an easy task but INLEX has proven to be more than equal to the challenge.”
The newly appointed Chair of INLEX, Dave McCauley, a long-standing member of the Expert Group, and other members, recalled the achievements and challenges of INLEX and looked to a future of increasingly significant work ahead.
“We will continue to discharge our advisory functions responsibly and to the best of our abilities with a view to ensuring that the international legal framework on nuclear liability develops with the interests of all Member States in mind”, said McCauley.
The Head of the Nuclear and Treaty Law Section of the Office of Legal Affairs, Anthony Wetherall, who has been supporting the work of INLEX since its establishment in 2003, highlighted that during the past years, much has been achieved. “Looking forward, there is a need for broad adherence to the Global Nuclear Liability Regime, to continue liability discussions on small modular reactors and undertake new ones, such as on nuclear-powered merchant vessels. It will be important for INLEX to continue providing its expertise in these and other areas.”
The event also provided an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of addressing civil liability and compensation for nuclear damage. The importance of the Global Nuclear Liability Regime in ensuring the availability of prompt, adequate and non-discriminatory compensation for victims, providing legal certainty regarding the liability of the nuclear industry and enhancing international cooperation on nuclear projects, was emphasised; so was the importance of INLEX in enhancing global adherence by nuclear and non-nuclear power generating countries to the Global Nuclear Liability Regime and in contributing to the development of national legal frameworks on nuclear liability.
