The principle concentrating on the nuclear operator the whole liability for an accident, to the exclusion of the industrial chain's suppliers.
Channeling of liability directs to the operator alone the duty to compensate nuclear damage, sparing the victim from identifying the defective supplier within a chain of thousands of firms. It is part of a bargain with the victim, who obtains in exchange strict liability and compulsory financial security. But it carries a heavy economic consequence, the maker of a defective component bears no residual liability and the capped operator has no interest in demanding more, so civil liability, the principal instrument of supply chain discipline elsewhere, is switched off exactly where a defect can render a territory uninhabitable.
In December 2025, India removed the statutory supplier recourse, restoring full channeling of liability onto the operator, the public alone never having consented.
canalisation juridique, channelling