[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.