국제원자력책임법제상 민간책임에 관한 쟁점과 시사점

Issues and Prospects of International Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage

This article concerns the developments of international nuclear civil liability regime, focusing on the main issues for the regime after the Chernobyl accident and useful implications for our relevant legislation. First, it reviewed the necessity and peculiarities of the liability regime, reminding the importance of adjustments between two apparently conflicting needs: the need to protect the public from the exceptional risks posed by the production of nuclear energy, and the need to protect nuclear operators and suppliers from ruinous claims for damages from possible nuclear accidents. One of the adjustments to the foregoing needs lies in removing the legal and financial barriers to the nuclear industry while at the same time ensuring adequate compensation for any civil damage. Second, the international regime for the compensation was depicted: the regime was initiated from the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy (Paris Convention, including Brussels Supplementary Convention) established by the OECD in 1960, and complemented by the 1963 Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (Vienna Convention) by the IAEA; and the two systems were bridged by the Joint Protocol Relating to the Application of the Vienna Convention and the Paris Convention (Joint Protocol) in 1988. Third, the developments of the foregoing three treaty-based systems were considered, including the adoption of the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (Supplementary Compensation Convention) in 1997, a development which “open(ed) a new chapter in international nuclear liability law”. In conclusion, some suggestions in a possible amendment of Korea Nuclear Compensation Act were advanced, with a reminder of the increasing influence of the Supplementary Compensation Convention ratified by the U.S. in 2008.