Nuclear insurance protects companies that work with nuclear reactors from liability claims in the event of a nuclear incident. In the US, it is provided under the Price-Anderson Act of 1957, and is only available from certain insurance companies. It is a no-fault insurance, and utilities pay the bills, not the government or taxpayers. Nuclear liability insurance policies are often very expensive.
Nuclear insurance is insurance carried out by companies that work with nuclear reactors, primarily utilities that generate power through the use of a reactor, to protect them from liability claims in the event of a nuclear incident. In the United States, services to purchase and maintain nuclear insurance policies are provided under the Price-Anderson Act of 1957, which was signed into law by President Eisenhower. This specialized insurance product is only available from certain insurance companies.
When a company buys nuclear insurance, it usually takes out a policy on a specific reactor. In countries with laws that require insurance coverage, such as the United States, there are usually minimum policy amounts in addition to maximum possible payouts that are designed to ensure that the policy is adequate in the event of a major incident without begging the insurance company. insurance provided by insurance. coverage. Nuclear insurance is no-fault insurance, although the circumstances under which a payout may occur will vary.
In the United States, a group of insurance companies known as American Nuclear Insurers (ANI) have created a fund to cover nuclear incidents that is estimated to hold around $10 billion (USD) in 2009. A catastrophic nuclear incident in a major urban area could easily trigger a large number of very expensive liability claims that would be covered by this group. For reference only, the 1979 Three Mile Island accident generated liability claims in the amount of approximately $220,500,000 USD in 2009 dollars.
One difference between nuclear insurance and coverage to protect utilities from other types of disaster-related liability claims is that the utilities pay the bills, not the government or taxpayers. In other cases, utilities may have some insurance coverage, but the government would step in with assistance in the event of a catastrophe such as a hydroelectric dam failure. Nuclear insurance provides a similar level of coverage at no cost to the public, apart from the costs that the utility company passes on to users of its energy.
As one might imagine, nuclear liability insurance policies are often very expensive. Insurance companies willing to take the risk need access to substantial capital and highly qualified underwriters who create custom policies for the nuclear industry. Failure to comply with a nuclear insurance policy by a utility may result in fines and other government sanctions until the situation is corrected.
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