Essay from the year 2013 in the subject Law - European and International Law, Intellectual Properties, grade: merit, Queen Mary University of London (Department of Law), course: LLM, language: English, abstract: In this essay I would like to argue that the existing international nuclear liability framework cannot prevent great nuclear disasters. I will start with some considerations about Chernobyl and Fukushima, and then my discussion will continue with a framework of the international legal provisions that address related clauses of liability. I attempted to furnish plausible interpretation of the existing international legal framework before arriving at conclusion about the efficiency of this framework. The nuclear accidents of Chernobyl, USSR in 1986 and Fukushima, Japan in 2011 rekindled serious and thought provoking discussions among the scientific communities, policy planners and beneficiaries of the world to understand whether the existing legal liability ensures the nuclear safeguards to the world for continued use of the nuclear technology at the cost of human and environmental tragedies. A thorough review of these two nuclear tragedies in light of legal provisions is made in the subsequent sections to understand [...]

Following the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, extraordinary efforts were undertaken in Japan to implement a compensation scheme for the proper and efficient indemnification of the affected victims. This publication provides English translations of key Japanese legislative and administrative texts and other implementing guidance, as well as several commentaries by Japanese experts in the field of third party nuclear liability. The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) has prepared this publication in co-operation with the government of Japan to share Japan{u2019}s recent experience in implementing its nuclear liability and compensation regime. The material presented in the publication should provide valuable insights for those wishing to better understand the regime applied to compensate the victims of the accident and for those working on potential improvements in national regimes and the international framework for third party nuclear liability.

In this book, compelling case studies show how past crises have reshaped regulation, and how policy-makers can learn from crises in the future.

A concise and current treatment of the subject of nuclear power safety, this work addresses itself to such issues of public concern as: radioactivity in routine effluents and its effect on human health and the environment, serious reactor accidents and their consequences, transportation accidents involving radioactive waste, the disposal of radioactive waste, particularly high-level wastes, and the possible theft of special nuclear materials and their fabrication into a weapon by terrorists. The implementation of the defense-in-depth concept of nuclear power safety is also discussed. Of interest to all undergraduate and graduate students of nuclear engineering, this work assumes a basic understanding of scientific and engineering principles and some familiarity with nuclear power reactors

The explosion on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the consequent reactor fire resulted in an unprecedented release of radioactive material from a nuclear reactor and adverse consequences for the public and the environment. Although the accident occurred nearly two decades ago, controversy still surrounds the real impact of the disaster. Therefore the IAEA, in cooperation with other UN bodies, the World Bank, as well as the competent authorities of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, established the Chernobyl Forum in 2003. The mission of the Forum was to generate 'authoritative consensual statements' on the environmental consequences and health effects attributable to radiation exposure arising from the accident as well as to provide advice on environmental remediation and special health care programmes, and to suggest areas in which further research is required. This report presents the findings and recommendations of the Chernobyl Forum concerning the environmental effects of the Chernobyl accident.

This open access book discusses the eroding economics of nuclear power for electricity generation as well as technical, legal, and political acceptance issues. The use of nuclear power for electricity generation is still a heavily disputed issue. Aside from technical risks, safety issues, and the unsolved problem of nuclear waste disposal, the economic performance is currently a major barrier. In recent years, the costs have skyrocketed especially in the European countries and North America. At the same time, the costs of alternatives such as photovoltaics and wind power have significantly decreased.