Torts and Atoms

Radiation Injuries: Statute of Limitations Inadequacies in Tort Cases

“…One writer has proposed that a federal limitation be enacted in conjunction with an act creating a federal cause of action based upon strict liability. 100 On the other hand, it has been suggested that uniform state legislation would be the better solution, although a recommendation of congressional action was also indicated. 191 A single federal statute would certainly offer the advantage of immediate uniformity throughout the country and thus avoid the possibility of continuing disparateness in limitation periods and interpretations of when the statutory period starts to run.…”

“…Defendant's fraudulent concealment of the existence of a cause of action is commonly recognized by both the judiciary and legislatures as a justifiable basis for postponement of the limitation period. 100 Whether the rationale is expressed in terms of defendant's conduct estopping him from pleading the statute, the acts of fraudulent concealment constituting a basis for tolling the limitation, or defendant's activity amounting to a fraud which gives rise to an independent cause of action, the same result will be achieved, because the damage in a suit for fraud presumably would be the value of the claim that was barred. The principal problems facing the courts are what conduct constitutes fraudulent concealment and what facts must be concealed in order to invoke this exception.…”