Vienna: Over 100 delegates met in Vienna last month to accelerate the establishment of a global nuclear liability regime under the framework of a global convention. The Fifth Meeting of the Contracting Parties and Signatories to the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC) was held at the IAEA's headquarters in Vienna, Austria, from 23-26 June 2025.
According to EMM, industry participants highlighted the need to establish a global nuclear liability regime based on the CSC, which would provide legal certainty to all stakeholders in the nuclear industry worldwide, including operators, insurers, suppliers, and investors. The meeting also provided a forum for further practical discussions related to the operation of the CSC.
Ben McRae, Chair of the Fifth Meeting and Assistant General Counsel for Civilian Nuclear Programs at the US Department of Energy, stated that the CSC is the best way to address nuclear liability, providing legal certainty, minimizing supply chain concerns, and increasing investor confidence.
A specialist panel discussed the importance of the CSC concerning the impact of nuclear liability on the cost of nuclear projects. The last part of the meeting was devoted to discussing a possible amendment to the CSC, which would eliminate the obligation for States with no nuclear reactors to make contributions to the convention's supplementary international fund, as a step to encouraging more countries to join it.
The meeting demonstrated growing momentum towards broad adherence to the CSC, which already covers approximately forty percent of nuclear power plants globally and offers the only pathway to universal participation in a global nuclear liability regime. McRae emphasized that a global regime based on the CSC is necessary to achieve the full promise of nuclear power to provide safe, secure, clean, and affordable energy.
Anthony Wetherall, Head of the Nuclear and Treaty Law Section in the IAEA Office of Legal Affairs, highlighted that the CSC is an important building block in establishing a global nuclear liability regime as called for annually by the IAEA General Conference. He noted the ongoing efforts to amend the CSC to eliminate financial contributions from States without nuclear reactors.
The CSC, adopted under IAEA auspices in 1997, is the only international nuclear liability convention to cover this number of nuclear power reactors worldwide, approximately 180, or 43 percent of such operational reactors. It has 11 Parties and 11 Signatories and serves as an umbrella for countries with existing international nuclear liability conventions or national legislation conforming to its principles.
The inaugural meeting of the CSC Parties and Signatories was held in Ottawa, Canada, in 2019, during which the IAEA accepted the request of the Parties to act as the Secretariat for, and convene, future meetings of the Parties regularly.