Brussels Convention Supplementary to the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy (Brussels Supplementary Convention or BSC)
Ongoing

The Brussels Supplementary Convention establishes a scheme to provide compensation supplementary to that required by the Paris Convention. The BSC is open only to contracting parties to the Paris Convention.

  • Adopted: 31 January 1963
    • 1964 Additional Protocol adopted: 28 January 1964
    • 1982 Protocol adopted: 16 November 1982
    • 2004 Protocol adopted: 12 February 2004
  • Opened for signature: 31 January 1963
    • 1964 Additional Protocol opened for signature: 28 January-29 April 1964
    • 1982 Protocol opened for signature: 16 November 1982
    • 2004 Protocol opened for signature: 12 February 2004
  • Entered into force: 4 December 1974, along with its 1964 Additional Protocol
    • 1964 Additional Protocol entered into force: 4 December 1974, along with the original 1963 Convention
    • 1982 Protocol entered into force: 1 August 1991
    • 2004 Protocol entered into force: 1 January 2022
  • Parties: 13 (see table below)

More information on the Brussels Supplementary Convention, including the text, is available here.

The current status of ratifications or accessions to the Brussels Supplementary Convention is available here.

The following is a sampling of the articles related to the BSC that have been published in the Nuclear Law Bulletin:

  • The Brussels Convention and Liability for Nuclear Damage, by P. Sands and P. Galizzi (NLB 64, p. 7).
  • The Reform of the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy and of the Brussels Supplementary Convention, by R. Dussart Desart (NLB 75, p.7).
  • Progress towards a global nuclear liability regime (NLB 93, p. 9).
  • Applicability of the existing nuclear liability conventions to different types of small modular reactors currently under development, by V. Roland (NLB 110, p. 7).
  • Nuclear liability in respect of Ukraine’s nuclear installations under Russian military control, by N.L.J.T. Horbach and O.F. Brown (NLB 111, p. 7).
  • The modern nuclear liability regime’s concept of “environmental damage”: How national courts may apply it and what remedies they may provide for such damage, by S. Knopp Pisi (NLB 111, p. 23).
  • Liability and compensation for third party damage resulting from a nuclear incident, by J.A. Schwartz (Principles and Practice of International Nuclear Law, p. 409).
  • Insurance of nuclear risks, by S. M. S. Reitsma and M. G. Tetley (Principles and Practice of International Nuclear Law, p. 445).

 

Parties to the Brussels Supplementary Convention
Belgium* Germany Slovenia* United Kingdom*
Denmark Italy Spain*  
Finland* Netherlands* Sweden*  
France* Norway Switzerland*  

* Country with at least one nuclear power plant in operation.