Brazil will host Workshop on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage

Brazil is about to host another International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) event focused on discussions about Nuclear Law. It is a Workshop on the theme of Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage – or simply "Civil Liability" which is scheduled to take place from 6 to 10 November of the current year.

The Workshop on “Civil Liability” will occur within the framework established in Practical Arrangements held in 2022 in Vienna, Austria, between the National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN) and the IAEA.  This agreement whose scope aims to strengthen the importance of the discipline of Nuclear Law to be known in Brazil, and the Agency has already committed itself to supporting the initiatives carried out here.

The theme of “Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage” embodies a paramount international significance and there are also several International Conventions about the issue. In Brazil, the theme performs a role of constitutional relevance.

This specific subject of studying falls within the scope of the discipline of Nuclear Law, which corroborates the path that Brazil has been following, regarding to a project to consolidate this discipline in the country. In this sense, the Institute of Nuclear Engineering (IEN), the CNEN's technical-scientific unit, appointed as executor of the agreement signed by the CNEN and the IAEA in 2022, promoted in partnership with the Agency, between the months of May and June of this year, the Introduction to Nuclear Law Course, which was surprisingly sought after by professionals in the legal area and other related ones, receiving almost 140 applications (for 70 places available). Due to the high number of interested parties, the organization had to limit the number of participants. However, to make up for this action and satisfy the interest of those who were unable to attend the first session of the Course, it is already under the consideration to hold another session of the course in the second half of 2023.

In addition to this initiative, the CNEN's Nuclear Engineering Institute (IEN) is already organizing a pioneering lato sensu postgraduate course on Nuclear Law in Latin America, which is scheduled to start in the first half of 2024.

CNEN´s General Counsel, Romulo Lima, argues: “If CNEN already represents Brazil intensely before the IAEA in terms of regulation of the Brazilian nuclear sector and application of nuclear technologies, the country is now taking great steps towards strengthening the discipline of Nuclear Law, either to train professionals in this area, or expand the national literature on this specific branch of Law and or, offer training in the country.”

Henrique Davidovich´s signatures