CYIL 2015

THE VIENNA CONVENTION ON CIVIL LIABILITY FOR NUCLEAR DAMAGE … matters of nuclear liability for damages incurred by the operation of nuclear powered vessels were reserved for a specialized international treaty. 27 However, this special liability convention has never entered into force, and, consequently, nuclear powered vessels remain excluded from the scope of international liability instruments until today. 28 With regard to the application of the Vienna Convention on nuclear reactors with which means of sea transport are equipped, the project of a floating nuclear power plant must be mentioned. 29 A floating nuclear power plant is a non-self-propelled vessel, carrying two naval propulsion reactors, together providing up to 70 MW of electricity or 300 MW of heat, enough for a city with a population of 200,000 people. It could also be modified as a desalination plant producing 240,000 cubic meters of fresh water a day. Basically, the floating nuclear power plants are planned to be used mainly in the Russian Arctic. 30 According to information published by the Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation, several states have shown interest in hiring such a device. 31 However, the Convention does not apply to these technologies. 32 Therefore, the liability framework of the Vienna Convention will not cover liability cases arising from use of these nuclear technologies. Consequently, a need for special bilateral liability agreements will arise in the case where floating nuclear power plants will be hired by other countries and used in their national waters. 33 Due to the fact that the fathers of the Vienna Convention restricted its applicability solely to those installations “containing nuclear fuel in such an arrangement that a self sustaining chain process of nuclear fission can occur therein without an additional 27 The Brussels Convention on the Liability of Operators of Nuclear Ships of 1962. 28 A proposal to include those nuclear reactors generating power for vessels and airplanes was made during the negotiation of the Amended Vienna Convention. But while several delegations supported the proposal, a number of other delegations objected to it. In particular, they noted, that there were no civilian nuclear powered vessels, with the exception of a few nuclear ice-breakers. In view of the difference in opinion, it was decided not to include these nuclear technologies under the scope of the Amended Convention. 29 The project of Russian floating nuclear power stations started in the early 2000s. In 2000 the Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation chose Severodvinsk in Arkhangelsk Oblast as the place for building the first floating power generating station. Construction of the first floating nuclear power station, “Akademik Lomonosov”, started on 15 April 2007 at the Sevmash Submarine-Building Plant in Severodvinsk. However, in August 2008 construction work was transferred to the Baltic Shipyard in Saint Petersburg, which is also responsible for the construction of the next vessels. “Akademik Lomonosov”, was launched on 1 July 2010, at a cost of 6 billion rubles (232 million US $). 30 Five of these will be used by Gazprom for offshore oil and gas field development and for operations on the Kola and Yamal peninsulas. 31 Including China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Algeria, Namibia, Cape Verde and Argentina. 32 The Convention does not apply to any reactor “with which a means of sea … transport is equipped for use as a source of power, whether for propulsion thereof or for any other purpose ” (emphasis added). 33 See TSCHERNING, R. Transportable Nuclear Power Plants – An Update on Regulatory Responses in International Nuclear Law, In Nuclear Law in the EU and Beyond, Baden Baden: Nomos Verlag, 2014, at p. 198.

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