    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [November 14, 2002]
    [Pages 2076-2077]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Message to the Senate Transmitting the Convention on Supplementary
    Compensation for Nuclear Damage
    November 14, 2002

    To the Senate of the United States:
        I transmit herewith, for Senate advice and consent to ratification,
    with a declaration, the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for
    Nuclear Damage done at Vienna on September 12, 1997. This Convention was
    adopted by a Diplomatic Conference convened by the International Atomic
    Energy Agency (IAEA) and was opened for signature at Vienna on September
    29, 1997, during the IAEA General Conference. Then-Secretary of Energy
    Federico Pena signed the Convention for the United States on that date,
    subject to ratification. Also transmitted for the information of the
    Senate is the report of the Department of State concerning the
    Convention.
        The Convention establishes a legal framework for defining,
    adjudicating, and compensating civil liability for nuclear damage that
    results from an incident in the territory of a Party, or in certain
    circumstances in international waters, and creates a contingent
    international supplementary compensation fund. This fund would be
    activated in the event of an incident with damage so extensive that it
    exhausts the compensation funds that the Party where the incident occurs
    is obligated under the Convention to make available.
        The international supplementary fund would be made up largely of
    contributions from Parties that operate nuclear power plants. The
    improved legal certainty and uniformity provided under the Convention
    combined with the availability of additional resources provided by the
    international supplementary fund create a balanced package appealing
    both to countries that operate nuclear power plants and those that do
    not. The Convention thus creates for the first time the potential for a
    nuclear civil liability convention with global application.
        Prompt U.S. ratification of the Convention is important for two
    reasons. First, U.S. suppliers of nuclear technology now face
    potentially unlimited third-party civil liability arising from their
    activities in foreign markets because the United States is not currently
    party to any international nuclear civil liability convention. In
    addition to limiting commercial opportunities, lack of liability
    protection afforded by treaty obligations has limited the scope of
    participation by major U.S. companies in the provision of safety
    assistance to Soviet-designed nuclear power plants, increasing the risk
    of future accidents in these plants. Once widely applied, the Convention
    will create for suppliers of U.S. nuclear equipment and technology
    substantially the same legal environment in foreign markets that they
    now experience domestically under the Price-Anderson Act. It will level
    the playing field on which they meet foreign competitors and eliminate
    the liability concerns that have inhibited them from providing the
    fullest range of safety assistance.

    [[Page 2077]]

        Second, under existing nuclear liability conventions many potential
    victims outside the United States generally have no assurance that they
    will be adequately or promptly compensated in the event they are harmed
    by a civil nuclear incident, especially if that incident occurs outside
    their borders or damages their environment. The Convention, once widely
    accepted, will provide that assurance.
        United States leadership is essential in order to bring the
    Convention into force soon. With the United States as an initial Party,
    other countries will find the Convention attractive and the number of
    Parties is likely to grow quickly. Without U.S. leadership, the
    Convention could take many years to enter into force. The creation of a
    global civil liability regime will play a critical role in allowing
    nuclear power to achieve its full potential in the diverse and
    environmentally responsible world energy structure we need to build in
    the coming decades.
        The Convention is consistent with the primary existing U.S. statute
    governing nuclear civil liability, the Price-Anderson Act of 1957.
    Adoption of the Convention would require virtually no substantive
    changes in that Act. Moreover, under legislation that is being submitted
    separately to implement the Convention, the U.S. contingent liability to
    contribute to the international supplementary fund would be completely
    covered, either by funds generated under the Price-Anderson Act in the
    event of an accident covered by both that Act and the Convention, or by
    funds contributed to a retrospective pool by U.S. suppliers of nuclear
    equipment and technology in the event of an accident covered by the
    Convention but falling outside the Price-Anderson system. In either
    case, U.S. taxpayers would not have to bear the burden of the U.S.
    contribution to the international supplementary fund.
        The Convention allows nations that are party to existing nuclear
    liability conventions to join the new global regime easily, without
    giving up their participation in those conventions. It also permits
    nations that do not belong to an existing convention to join the new
    regime easily and rapidly. The United States in particular benefits from
    a grandfather clause that allows it to join the Convention without being
    required to change certain aspects of the Price-Anderson system that
    would otherwise be inconsistent with its requirements.
        The Convention, without relying on taxpayer funds, will increase the
    compensation available to potential victims of a civil nuclear incident,
    strengthen the position of U.S. exporters of nuclear equipment and
    technology, and permit us to provide safety assistance to the world's
    least-safe reactors more effectively.
        I urge the Senate to act expeditiously in giving its advice and
    consent to ratification of the Convention on Supplementary Compensation
    for Nuclear Damage, with a declaration as set forth in the accompanying
    report of the Department of State.

                                                              George W. Bush

     The White House,

     November 14, 2002.

    Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on
    November 15. An original was not available for verification of the
    content of this message.