TNAG-1121-FCO40-1396-Amendment-of-Nuclear-Installations-Act-1965-extension-to-Dep-1982 — Page 15

Contracting states may establish a greater or less amount than this, prided that it is not less than 5 million units of account. The Article allows these suns to be converted into national currency in round figures. (There is no corresponding provision in the Brussels

Convention).

11. Counsel will note that Article I of the Paris Protocol,

inter alia, substitutes Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) as defined by the International Monetary Fund (TF) for units of account, on the basis of one SDR for one unit of account, in Article 7(b) of the Paris

Convention.

This in itself does not require any change in the United Kingdom legislation so far as the Paris Convention is concerned.

12.

Section 1

restricts certain nuclear

installations defined in section 1(1) to sites licensed by the Health and Safety Executive. The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and the Crown are not required to hold site licences, but the same strict duty is imposed on them by sections 8 and 9 as is imposed on licensees by section 7.

Section 16(1)

provides

that the liability of an operator of a nuclear installation shall not exceed £5 million in respect of any one occurence which constitutes a breach of duty under the Act. £5 million was approximately the sterling equivalent of 15 million units of account at the time the Act was passed.

13.

Article 10 of the Paris Convention provides that the operator shall be required to cover his liability by insurance or other financial security. Section 19(1) of the 1965 Act gives effect to this by providing that a licensee shall make provision by insurance or some other means as the Secretary of State and the Treasury approve to satisfy claims up to an aggregate of £5 million.

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