Finland Proposed Amendment Tender

The Ministry of Employment and the Economy is requesting statements on the draft government proposal to amend the Nuclear Liability Act. The proposal takes into account international agreements on nuclear liability and their amending protocols. The aim of the proposal is among other things to increase the amount of liability covered by the insurance of the operator of a nuclear power plant used in energy production.The request for an opinion can be found at lausuntopalvelu.fi . The statement expires on 6.12.2020. After that the preparation of amendments to the law will continue in the ministry as official work. The governments proposal is to be submitted to Parliament in spring 2021.The Finnish Nuclear Liability Act is based on the Paris Convention on Liability for Nuclear Damage and the supplementary Brussels Convention supplementing it. Amendments to these treaties were already agreed in 2004 but are currently expected to enter into force internationally at the beginning of 2022. The draft law in the opinion relates to the implementation of these amending protocols.The proposal proposes amendments to the Nuclear Liability Act 4841972 and the Act Amending the Nuclear Liability Act 4932005. The liability amounts of the operator of a nuclear installation covered by the insurance would be staggered in the Nuclear Liability Act according to the risk related to the operation of the installation. The liability of the operator of a nuclear installation used for energy production would be increased and lower liability amounts would be provided for other nuclear installations and the transport of nuclear material.The purpose of the staggering of exposures is to set the appropriate exposure at a level commensurate with the risk associated with the quality of the nuclear installation or operation in question and the extent of possible consequences as well as to reduce administrative burdens and increase predictability.The proposal proposes that the amount of liability covered by the insurance of the operator of a nuclear power plant used for energy production be increased from EUR 700 million to EUR 1200 million. The liability for shipments of other nuclear installations and spent fuel would be set at EUR 250 million and for shipments of other nuclear materials at EUR 80 million.In addition in the case of damage occurring in Finland the operator of a nuclear installation located in Finland shall be liable on the basis of his unlimited liability with all his assets to the extent that the damage exceeds the amount of EUR 1500 million covered by the Brussels Supplementary Convention.At the same time when the amounts of liability are regulated directly by law the procedure under the current Nuclear Liability Act would be abandoned in which the Government may reduce the amount of liability for the transport of a nuclear facility or nuclear material on a case-by-case basis.In addition provision would be made for a special insurance guarantee which the Council of State could if the conditions laid down are met for compensation for personal injury occurring later than 10 years but not exceeding 30 years from the nuclear incident.