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Publications, Engagements & Contributions

Many thanks to the French Maritime Law Association (AFDM) for organizing the 32nd RIPERT Conference, dedicated to the legal and technological challenges of maritime decarbonization.
I had the pleasure of speaking as Chair of the AFDM Energy Commission, in the panel on nuclear-powered maritime transport, with a presentation entitled:
👉 “Civil Maritime Nuclear – Legal Perspectives”
🔍 The topic now firmly stands on the international agenda. At its 110th session (June 2025), the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) acknowledged the urgent need to revise Chapter VIII of the SOLAS Convention and the Code of Safety for Nuclear Merchant Ships (res. A.491(XII)).
As early as 1959, the Comité Maritime International underlined that nuclear power at sea raised both:
• Public law issues, relating to international regulation, safety, and security of ships; and
• Private law issues, including civil liability, mandatory insurance, and jurisdictional conflicts.
This dual dimension remains more relevant than ever. Future work must integrate contemporary requirements, particularly those stemming from the IAEA framework:
⚛️ Safety, Security, and Safeguards – the “3S” – now central to any civil nuclear regulation.
🔧 The 1962 Brussels Convention on the Liability of Operators of Nuclear Ships – developed by the CMI – provides a historical foundation, but now calls for a thorough revision or even a complete overhaul.
📌 An ambitious undertaking lies ahead, at the intersection of the law of the sea, nuclear law, and private maritime law.

Warm thanks to all speakers and organizers for the richness of the discussions, and in particular to: Romain Cazzato; Marc Léger; Jose Esteve; Gaël Piette; Philippe Delebecque; Julien Raynaut; Andrew Tetley; Adam Kapella

Image reproduced with kind permission from Jianru CAI.

As part of the MEET 2050 lecture series, I had the pleasure of presenting on the legal perspectives of civil maritime nuclear energy — an emerging topic at the intersection of the energy and maritime transitions.

In view of the challenges posed by the decarbonization of maritime transport and the pursuit of energy autonomy for certain coastal or remote regions, several States and industrial stakeholders are now considering the use of nuclear power at sea through two main applications:

• Nuclear-powered vessels (NPVs);
• Floating nuclear power plants (FNPPs).

However, this development raises significant legal questions that have so far received limited attention:

• What international regulatory framework applies to these hybrid units, which function both as ships and as nuclear installations?
• How can safety, liability, environmental protection, and international oversight be ensured for such facilities?
• What coordination mechanisms should exist between the relevant organizations (IMO, IAEA, coastal States, flag States)?

The presentation provided a structured overview of applicable international instruments (SOLAS, MARPOL, Nuclear Safety Code, nuclear liability conventions), identified current gaps, and discussed recent work carried out within the IMO aimed at revising the Safety Code for Nuclear Merchant Ships.

This issue, lying at the crossroads of maritime law, nuclear law, and international law (environmental protection, non-proliferation, etc.), deserves particular attention in order to support innovation without undermining legal certainty or public trust.