NEWS RELEASE

WASHINGTON—President Bush today signed into law the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (H.R. 6). Title VIII of the legislation includes provisions approving the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage, which was agreed to at international talks held in Vienna, Austria, in 1997. The Nuclear Energy Institute’s chief nuclear officer and senior vice president, Marvin Fertel, made the following comments, about the bill’s enactment.

“The nuclear energy industry welcomes U.S. approval of the Convention on Supplementary Compensation as part of the broader energy bill that became law today. The Convention is patterned after the proven model of the Price-Anderson Act that 50 years ago authorized an industry-funded liability insurance pool in the unlikely event of an accident in the United States. It will provide a predictable liability framework for domestic nuclear suppliers doing business overseas.

“This holds the potential for job creation here in the United States as an increasing number of countries look to nuclear energy to help meet rising electricity demand with a clean-energy technology capable of reliably producing large supplies of electricity without emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

“Because the U.S. nuclear energy industry prides itself on operational excellence, evidenced first and foremost by an absolute commitment to safety, we believe it is immensely important that a strong liability framework be in place worldwide. The Convention on Supplemental Compensation helps significantly in that regard.”