14
Article 7(b)
allows any Contracting Party, "taking into
account the possibilities for the operator of obtaining the insurance
or other financial security required pursuant to Article 10", to
establish a greater or less amount than 15 million units of account
provided that it is not lower than 5 million units of account. Since
insurance is, in fact, available to operators for sums much higher
than that figure, it is proposed to raise the limit on the operator's liability in section 16(1) of the 1965 Act and the amount for which
he is required to provide financial security by section 19(1) from
£5 million to £20 million.
15.
Counsel is asked to make provision which will alter the figure
of £5 million in sections 16(1), 17(3) (b) (i) and 19(1) of the
1965 Act to £ 20 million.
Operators of Small Installations
16. Article I of the Paris Protocol inter alia, changes Article 7(b) of the Paris Convention by adding a sub-paragraph (ii)
which provides that any contracting party, having regard to the
nuclear installation or the nuclear substances involved and to the
likely consequences of an incident originating therefrom, may
establish a lower limit for the liability of operators than
15 million SDRs, provided that it is not less than 5 million SDRs.
17. The Department of Energy is advised that certain nuclear installations present a very low risk of causing damage approaching £5 million in cost. Under section 16(1) of the 1965 Act the maximum liability of the operators of these installations is £5 million. It is not, therefore, proposed to require the operators of these