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alii General Couisel Subj ectto the proviso thrt appropriate assurames are secured for the rniliinitecl pot ect ion of i3e Ikgeilts, that the Re2;ciits not oppose a proposed amendment Lo tilo Atonic Energy Act, pi-ovidiw that ii l activities connected vrith tile underground detonations of an;?nuclear e::plosive devices, AEC contrrctors, such as the Regen'cs, nottrltiistrnding a ~ i yriC;;it othemdse to plead so vere ig LmUiifty, shall be liable for injuries or danage8 t o tiie e::teiit indermiiiYec1 a ider their prime cantract i n the same mmer aiici t o the sane c::teAit as rroulti t. g riva te person _mount, arising out 02 il juries or darnages sufihered i n connectlo-i vith our contract activities. Unc.er date of i.Iay 14, 1959, the Secreta authorized by tile Regents t o execute supplements co.ltr&cts t o incorporate the ii1Gcmiifty provisions tliese su??lemeiito the Regents cgreeci that t o the provisions contained i n clause XIv of tile contracts.: appropriation bei'ore my hi Z s would bo available.
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University of California at Berkeley The BancroR LibrarylThe University Archives, Berkeley CA RECORDS SERIES TITLE iioefever, the Cisedvaatase is that tse liability exposure t o us 6 0 t h a t VE could go iiito tile BeCeral 3a.rlcruptcy Court and limit M nuclear liability to vhic;i m night otiiervise be subJect3 tile $500,000,000 prescribee. t f o ~ s )?rOulC take place, have apparently beea concerned ?.bout; the fact that their protectioa under the Regents' iiic!cm~iityis coiltingent upon our express vraiver of sovereign imrmnity oil a case-by-case basis, and that in a given case tho Regenta, as trustees, mi$it be obligatec not t o make a by Sex to rh ter son (S-1144) i6iich pmvieeb, hi esseiicc, that the United Stato s would assume any l fnb i lft jr directly. Pile Justice Departierit o)po&es this bill Oil the ti1eol"J t h t it voul8 expand the provisions oi' t:ie Federal Tort Claims Act t o cover sti * iCt liability situations such as this , !:hereas the exist ii x provisions cover only tiegligedc h&Ve an uiilimited indeilxiiiicztion agrccncnt i,i our AUC The potash miners i n New idexltco, there the proposed
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UnwerJRy of California at Berkeley The Bancroh Libravnhe University Archives, Berkeley CA, it my possess. si'cuatioiis rrfthiii t h e prohibition agalnst raisin;: the defedse 02 sovereign imu,iity t o the ex%ent indemiified It Kius brocdens the existing contractual This bill presents directly the problem OP vhether agencies of the Federal Government otficr than the tion 0; liability provisions t o $500,000,000 i s the sole InCemiiity provision applicable t o us. I tiilnk tre should utf liz e this op?oi>tuiiity t o place tile Department or" JustLce on record as t o vliether it recognizes tne validity md ei'fectiveness of the unlimited inCe.em;iitg clauses contained ii? our rUC contracts since 193. If i f does not re co size these clauses, aid if the limitatiai ol' liability provisioiis ol' tlie proaosed leg fal ation were ilot effective as t o the Resents, it is coiiceivable that tie Re!.;eiits could suffer a liability of :~1,000,000,000, ior e:wple, and be indemnified by the Federal Government only t o tho extent Calll'ornia State Supreme Court decision or" some months a20 rriiich abolished the doctrine of State sovereign immunity. Abill has just been SiSiieC by Goveriior wl01~1 thich purportedlgr has the effect of suspending the effect of this decision fora period of trro years until the 1963 session 02 the Legislature. Assunin;; this bill Is coast it u tio ml, tie would have the opportunity of pleading sovereisn immunity as t o any extent not covered by tlie indemiity provisions of the Price-Aulerson supplement to. should be held ui constitutional,or not biiidins on .U&-rte 1 2 a;aiAmi; tliiich, in my opinion, we should secure f i e l n ~ l i & j$ 5 i'rom tile Federal Government Lisofar as our AEC act i viti eai secure an a7propriate aeiidmeiit tothe proyosed pptash;, i ,: assurance of the Departmeiit of J u s t i c e that It recogilizes ' ' :.. aid afi'irms the validity of these uiilimited iiid clauses, contained i n our AEC coiltracts sfrice 1 I rrould like advice as t o vh&t course oL' action the This i s of real concern t o us since tIie