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UK wanting to increase nuclear operators’ liability for accidents

no company can obtain insurance against a nuclear accident – or would want to shoulder the risk themselves – because the costs could potentially be limitless.

Nuclear power generators will face £1bn in clean-up costs after an accident At present any operator of a nuclear site only has to pay the first £140m towards clean-up costs with the taxpayer contributing the  Guardian UK, Tim Webb ,  23 January 2011

Nuclear operators will have to pay the first £1bn towards the cost of any accident in the UK – seven times more than the current cap on their liabilities – the government will propose tomorrow.

Energy secretary Chris Huhne told the Observer that he wanted to introduce the new rule to ensure that there would be no public subsidy for nuclear power.

Currently, any operator of a nuclear site only has to pay the first £140m towards clean-up costs, with the taxpayer contributing the rest.

The cap, enshrined in European treaties, was introduced because no company can obtain insurance against a nuclear accident – or would want to shoulder the risk themselves – because the costs could potentially be limitless.

Many environmentalists argue that agreeing to cover any costs above £140m amounts to a public subsidy, which the Conservative and Liberal Democrats have promised not to provide to the industry…………..

Under the European proposals, in future nuclear operators must pay a minimum of the first €700m (£590m) for any accident. Governments have the option of adding a maximum of an extra €500m towards companies’ liabilities. Huhne is proposing to load the maximum liability onto companies that is allowed under the new treaties.

The cost of constructing nuclear reactors has soared, and companies have threatened to build them elsewhere if the UK government does not introduce the right regulatory breaks to make them economic. Many environmentalists believe the support on offer – guarantees of a minimum carbon price, caps on nuclear waste liabilities and a possible new “low-carbon obligation” which would guarantee a higher price for the electricity reactors generate – are forms of public subsidies…….

Nuclear power generators will face £1bn in clean-up costs after an accident | Business | The Observer

January 23, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, UK