ML19291B411
| ML19291B411 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 09/01/1979 |
| From: | Gossick L NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | Tsongas P SENATE |
| References | |
| FRN-44FR43128, RULE-PR-140 NUDOCS 7911060524 | |
| Download: ML19291B411 (6) | |
Text
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o UNITED STATES
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f*)yh NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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SEP 1 1979 The Honorable Paul E. Tsongas United States. Senate Washington, D.C.
20510
Dear Senator Tsongas:
We are pleased to provide you with information regarding the inquiry by your constituent, Mr. Joe Christoline relating to the liability for damages when people must leave their homes and jobs following a nuclear reactor accident.
Concerning your specific question, Section 170 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, commonly known as the Price-Anderson Act (Public Law 85-256, as amended) authorizes the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and other indemnitors to make payments to claimants for the purpose of providing immediate assistance following a nuclear accident. These payments would be for living expenses, medical expenses if necessary, and other emergency assistance expenses.
We thought you also might be interested in providing Mr. Christoline with some additional information about the Price-Anderson Act and the claims payment procedures following the Three Mile Island accident.
The Price-Anderson Act requires licensees of commercial nuclear power plants having a rated capacity of 100,000 electrical kilowatts or more to provide proof to the NRC that they have financial protection in the form of private nuclear liability insurance, or in some othcr form approved by the Commission, in an amount equal to the maximum amount of liability insurance available at reasonable cost and on reasonable terms from private sources. That financial protection, $495 million, consists of primary private nuclear liability insurance of $160 million (which was increased from $140 million on May 1, 1979) and a secondary retrospective premium insurance layer.
In the event of a nuclear incident causing damages exceeding $160 million, each commercial nuclear power plant licensee would be assessed a prorated share of damages in excess of the primary insurance layer up to $5 million per reactor per incident but not in excess of $10 million for each reactor in any calendar-year.
With 67 commercial reactors operating under this system, the secondary layer totals $335 million.
20iG 182 7 9110 6 0 52 p
M The Honorable h 1 :
Tuongas The Price-Anderson Act also directs the Commission to enter into agreements with each licenree recuired to provide financial protecticn to indcrnify the licensee from public liability arising out of a nuclear incident in excess of the licensee's primary and secondary insurance amounts with indemnification limited to $500 million for each nuclear incident.
The Act limits the aggregate liability for a single nuclear incident to $560 million or the amount of primary and secondary insurance required of the licensee, whichever is greater.
The difference of $65 million between the finar.cial protection layer of
$495 million and thd $560 million liability limit is the present government indemnity level.
Government indemnity will gradually be phased out as more commercial reactors are licensed and licensees participate in the retrospective premium system. When the primary and secondary financial protection layers by themselves provide liability coverage of $560 million, government indemnity will be eliminated.
The present liability limit of $560 million would thereafter increase in increments of $5 million for each new commercial reactor licensed to operate.
Both the primary and secondary insurance and the government's indemnity agreements cover not only licensees but also any other person who may be liable.
For example, should offsite damage be caused by failure of a component, the public would have the benefit of the financial protection and related prompt compensation provisions of Price-Anderson even though the vendor of the faulty part might otherwise be without substantial coverage.
Public protection comes from more than simple assurance that funds will be available. The Act pra: des for specific and effective procedures to assure prompt and equii.able payment of claims, under court supervision if necessary. A 1966 amendment to the Act provided that, in the event of an " extraordinary nuclear occurrence," all damage claims may be transferred to a single federal district court on motion of the Commission or any defendant. That court is empowered to consider comprehensive plans for a fair distribution of the available funds submitted by the Comission or any interested person.
If it appears that damages may exceed the limit of liability, total payments may not exceed 15 per cent of that amount unless made pursuant to a distribution plan approved by that court. As previously discussed, emergency assistance payments may be made immediately following a nuclear accident.
The 1966 amendments also provided for the waiver of certain defenses in the event of a declaration of an extraordinary nuclear occurrence.
Concerning the subject of claims handling procedures following the Three Mile Island accident, representatives of American Nuclear Insurers (ANI), one of the two nuclear liability insurance pools, arrived at -
Harrisburg on the afternoon of March 29, 1979, to ascertain the necessity 2010 183 i
e onora e au songas
-d-of es tablishing an c....cryeng cie u..s ASI kcided to establish this office after Pennsylvania Governor Thornburgh advised that pregnant wo.;.en and pre-school age children livias.iii.nin a five-mile radius of the plant should leave the area.
Though an evacuation had not been ordered by the Governor, ANI decided to pay claims for living expenses of the families with pregnant women and pre-school age children who evacuated the five-mile area around the plant. ANI also indicated that the decision to pay claims for expenses of other persons living within the five-mile area not covered by the Governor's advisory, such as those filed by persons with special medical problems who would have extreme difficulty evacuating the area on short notice, was made on a case-by-case basis.
The following guidelines for reimbursement for living expenses were established:
Per diem Individual
$50 Husband & Wife
$80 Husband, wife, 1 child
$90 Each additional child
$15 Each additional adult
$35 On March 31, the first day of operations at the emergency claims center, ANI made payments cf almost $12,000.
The payments increased daily and reached a peak of $167,286 on April 9,1979.
Cumulative payments made to date to 10,000-12,000 individuals are approximately $1.3 million.
This total includes payments for claims for lost wages of those individuals who were covered by the Governor's advisory.
We hope that tL 1e ormation provided will enable you to respond to your constituent's inquiry.
Sincerely, nm-R SmtED BY R,. G. SMITH yleeV.Gossick Executive Director for Operations 2010 184
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Honorable Paul E. Tsongas United States Senate gg Washington, DC 20510 W.
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Dear Senator Tsongas:
h This is regarding the recent inquiry by your constituent, Mr. Joe Christoline, about the liability for damages when people must leave A
their homes and their jobs following a nuclear reactor accident.
Jy-Questions of this kind can best be answered by the agency having Q' u the regulatory responsibility for licensing nuclear power reactors,
?fy Q9p the Nuclear Regulatory Comission.
Accordingly, I have sent a copy of the inquiry to Mr. Lee Gossick, Executive Director for Operations, hiA 1
from whom you may expect a reply in the very near future.
4 In regard to the question of the safety of x-ray procedures, I have 7'h.
asked Dr. Gregory Barone of the Bureau of Radiological Health, FDA, f
to respond using the latest survey data at their disposal. He, too, gw y
will be responding promptly.
M If there are any questions about the nature of information you will wa di~
be receiving, please have your staff contact Dr. Donald M. Ross MK (301-353-5614).
Sincerely, At -
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P Ruth C. Clusen Assistant Secretary for Environment J'e.
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P Mr. Lee Gossick, NRC <
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Dr. Gregory Barone, FDA h.]k W.
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July 11, 1979 i.1, ee
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The Honorable James R.
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Secretary OfV-Department of Energy hi 1000 Independence Ave., S. W.
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~4 D ea r it. Secretary:
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,7m I have enclosed a letter fron. my constituent, Joe
-l-C hristoline, regarding who is responsible in the event of a nuclear catastrophe.
S I would appreciate a full report on this matter so I can i'j.
respond to my constituent.
Please ans er in duplicate and
.p return the attached materials to the attention of Amy N
Dunbar.
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PAUL E.
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