NUCLEAR LIABILITY

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Radioactivity and the Law

• NUCLEAR LIABILITY
• The Nuclear Installations Act 1965

Cheryl Parkhouse, Solicitor Burges Salmon LLP
RSC, Burlington House, London Tuesday 6 October
2009
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Overview

• Brief overview of the structure of the Nuclear
  Installations Act 1965
• Nuclear Liability
• International
• National (UK)
• Case Law
• Case study Transport
• Proposed future changes to Nuclear Liability

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Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (NIA 1965)

• Nuclear Site Licence
• Nuclear Liability

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1. Nuclear site licence

• s.1 requirement for nuclear site licence in order
  to install or operate a nuclear reactor
• s.4 Key control HSE to attach such conditions
  as it considers necessary or desirable in the
  interests of safety
• 36 Standard Nuclear Site Licence Conditions
  central part of regulation of main sites

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2. Nuclear Liability

• International

National

• Paris Convention 1960 (as amended)
• Brussels Supplementary Convention, 1963 (as
  amended)
• Vienna Convention 1963 (as amended)
• Joint Protocol 1988
• Convention on Supplementary Compensation for
  Nuclear Damage 1997

• Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (as amended)
• UK is not a signatory

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Paris Convention on Nuclear Third Party Liability
1960 and the NIA 1965

• Heads of damage
• Operator liability
• Strict liability
• Maximum liability
• Financial security
• Limitation period for claims

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Brussels Supplementary Convention 1963 and the
NIA 1965

• Additional funds above Paris Convention liability
  limit
• Limitations (e.g., heads of damage) as in Paris
  Convention
• Three tier compensation regime
• Must be party to Paris Convention

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Merlin and Others v British Nuclear Fuels Ltd
(1990)

• Plaintiffs home six miles south of nuclear
  re-processing plant
• Dust samples in house indicated high levels of
  radioactive contamination
• Claim under Nuclear Installations Act 1965 for
  compensation for financial loss suffered through
  diminution in value of house through level of
  radioactive contamination and perception of risk
  to health of children
• Held
• liability under the Act did not extend to any
  loss or damage other than proved physical or
  mental personal injury and physical damage to
  property risk or increased risk of damage to
  property and consequent risk of injury to health
  of inhabitants did not amount to injury to any
  person or damage to any property

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Blue Circle Industries plc v Ministry of Defence
(1998)

• Marshland owned by plaintiff contaminated with
  radioactive material from adjoining land owned by
  Atomic Weapons Establishment
• Claim under Nuclear Installations Act 1965
• Held on appeal to be property damage under
  s.7(1)(a) The physical damage to property
  contemplated in s.7(1)(a) is not limited to
  particular types of damage. Damage within the
  Act will occur provided there is some alteration
  in the physical characteristics of the property,
  in this case the marshland, caused by radioactive
  properties which render it less useful or less
  valuable (Aldous, L.J)

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Magnohard Ltd and Others v UKAEA (2003)

• Petitioners owned property situated near Sandside
  Beach and near the United Kingdom Atomic Energy
  Authority (UKAEA) power station at Dounreay
• Small number of radioactive particles found on
  Sandside Beach
• Claim under NIA 1965 - Petitioners claimed their
  land (near Sandside Beach) had been materially
  damaged by deposit of radioactive particles
• Held (Lady Paton)Sandside Beach has indeed
  suffered physical damage in the form of a
  physical change to the area affectedDamage in
  my view occurs as soon as a radioactive particle
  is deposited on the beach

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Transport and the NIA 1965
UK
Paris Convention State
UK
Non-Contracting State
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Proposed future amendments to the NIA 1965

• To implement the International Protocol 2004 to
  amend the Paris Convention 1960
• Amendment to definition of Nuclear
  Installation
• Widened definition of Nuclear Damage
• Widened class of claimant
• Increased duration and amount of liability.

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Contact Details

• Cheryl Parkhouse
• Solicitor
• Nuclear Unit, Burges Salmon LLP
• Email cheryl.parkhouse_at_burges-salmon.com
• Tel [phone]
• Fax [phone]

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This presentation gives general information only
and is not intended to be an exhaustive statement
of the law. Although we have taken care over the
information, you should not rely on it as legal
advice. We do not accept any liability to anyone
who does rely on its content.