CYIL vol. 15 (2024)

JAKUB HANDRLICA The Principles further specify 57 that the compensation that such states shall be liable to pay under the Convention described above for damage shall be determined in accordance with international law and the principles of justice and equity in order to provide such reparation in respect of the damage as will restore the person, natural, or juridical. Having said this, one must bear in mind that the Principles do not refer explicitly to a prospective operation of a small modular reactor as part of a lunar base. However, in the interest of legal certainty, one may argue that any Euratom’s involvement in space exploration must alter these established liability principles. The fact is a rigorous application of the Principles Relevant to the Use of Nuclear Power Sources in Outer Space to a prospective use of nuclear energy to power lunar bases opens the door for a specific Euratom’s involvement in this field. Such involvement could be represented by establishing public funds under the auspices of Euratom, providing for compensation for potential damages arising. III. CONCLUSIONS Today, using nuclear energy to power a lunar base may seem like a very distant, even unrealistic project. This fact can however, not imply that legal scholarship will not pay any attention to the issues arising. 58 Several key players have already announced that they will pursue development in this direction. Reflecting the current quest of the European Union for strategic autonomy in the field of space exploration, one must seriously ask what the position of Euratom vis-á-vis prospective nuclear endeavours on the Moon will be. Several arguments may be identified in favour of this option and for the future involvement of Euratom in this field. Such involvement will seem rational, as Euratom has been established to promote and support nuclear activities. In this respect, several tools may be identified in the Euratom Treaty, which may serve to facilitate the future of lunar nuclear projects. Having said this, one must bear in mind that future development will gravely depend on the progress in research and the political and strategic preferences of involved states. In this respect, rather than providing final solutions, this Article barely represents a kind of kick-off for a wider debate on nuclear space law of the future.

57 Ibid, Principle 9.1. 58 See LING, Y. ‘The Future of Space Law’ in MULLER, S., ZOURIDIS, S., FRISHMAN, M. and KISTEMAKER, L. (eds), The Law of the Future and the Future of Law (Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher 2011), at pp. 555–556.

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