The Vienna Convention establishes a nuclear liability and compensation regime similar to that provided for under the Paris Convention. The Vienna Convention is open to any state.

• Adopted: 21 May 1963
• Opened for signature: 21 May 1963
• Entered into force: 12 November 1977
• Parties: 47 (see table below)

More information on the Vienna Convention, including the text and current status, is available here.

The following is a sampling of the articles related to the Vienna Convention that have been published in the Nuclear Law Bulletin and Principles and Practice of International Nuclear Law:

• The Simultaneous Application of the Paris and Vienna Conventions in the Danish Draft Act, by Judge Spleth (NLB 6, p. 58).
• International Co-operation in Providing Insurance Cover for Nuclear Damage to Third Parties and for Damage to Nuclear Installations, by J. Deprimoz (NLB 32, p. 33).
• A Bridge Between two Conventions on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage: the Joint Protocol relating to the Application of the Vienna Convention and the Paris Convention, by O. Von Busekist (NLB 43, p. 10).
• Towards a New Regime of State Responsibility for Nuclear Activities, by L. De La Fayette (NLB 50, p. 7).
• Vienna Convention Revision: A Review of the Exercise and Insurance Implications in the Provisions under Discussion, by G. C. Warren (NLB 55, p. 9).
• The Protocol Amending the 1963 Vienna Convention, by V. Lamm (NLB 61, p. 7).
• Revised Paris and Vienna Nuclear Liability Conventions – Challenges for Insurers, by M. Tetley (NLB 77, p. 27).
• International Pooling of Operators' Funds: An Option to Increase the Amount of Financial Security to Cover Nuclear Liability?, by N. Pelzer (NLB 79, p. 37).
• Perspective on the Pros and Cons of a Pooling-type Approach to Nuclear Third Party Liability, by S. Carroll (NLB 81, p. 75).
• The Brussels I Regulation and Liability for Nuclear Damage, by J. Handrlica (NLB 86, p. 29).
• Progress towards a global nuclear liability regime (NLB 93, p. 9).
• Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments on civil liability for nuclear damage, by U. Magnus (NLB 106, p. 7).
• The qualification of nuclear substances and nuclear liability, by E. de Boissieu (NLB 108/109, p. 77).
• 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).
• Nuclear fusion: Legal Aspects, by W. Tonhauser and K. T. Olajos (NLB 111, p. 57).
• 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).

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

** Subject to an entry into force date of 29 July 2025.