What is the Price Anderson Act?
The main purpose of the Price-Anderson Act is to ensure the availability of a large pool of funds to provide prompt and orderly compensation to members of the public who might incur damages in the unlikely event of a nuclear or radiological incident, no matter who might be liable. Further, the Act is a consumer- and public-oriented legislation. It provides a substantial amount of insurance protection paid by the nuclear industry at no cost to the public or the government. The Act has removed the deterrent to private sector participation in nuclear activities presented by the threat of potential liability claims following a large nuclear accident. Each operator is required to have $300 million in primary insurance per nuclear unit, plus be able to commit an additional $10 billion in secondary insurance. Each company must prove annually that it is financially capable of producing this insurance should something happen to a nuclear unit. Beyond primary and secondary self-insurance, the Ac
