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The Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (hereafter referred to as the Convention) was opened for signature on May 21, 1963 and came into force on November 12, 1977. More than 30 states are parties to the Convention to date.

The Russian Federation signed the Convention on May 8, 1996, in Vienna.

The Convention is the basic international-legal document setting out the provisions regarding liability, procedures, deadlines and principles for compensating damage caused by incidents at civil nuclear facilities.

Under the terms of the Convention, the state responsible for the nuclear facility, or the state’s appointed operator, must pay compensation in all cases where an incident has been established by a court of the state where the incident took place. The Convention allows each state to set the maximum payable compensation and sets a current minimum compensation of $55 million. The compensation is intended to meet the claims of those who suffered from the incident, both inside and outside the state’s borders.

The Convention is in Russia’s interests and joining it will enable Russia to take a more active part in international cooperation in nuclear energy use.