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Re: Reid challenges Price Anderson Act
Pam —
But did you take a look at the press coverage? There was an article in the Las Vegas paper this morning, and you had to read down about 15 or so paragraphs to figure out that anybody other that the multi-talented Ms. Brinkley testified at the hearing ... despite the fact that some of the other panel members ARE recognized for their expertise in the nuclear field.
My $0.02 worth ...
Jim
>>> "Patricia Milligan" <PXM@NRC.GOV> 1/24/2002 13:34:23 >>>
Christy Brinkley?? isn't anyone just amazed that the Senate would actually invite a model to talk about nuclear power... maybe they will invite George Clooney when they talk about health care issues. How can anyone take such a panel seriously??
Patricia A. Milligan, RPh.,CHP
USNRC
301-415-2223
>>> Norman Cohen <ncohen12@HOME.COM> 01/24/02 12:44PM >>>
Of course, there's politics involved. Reid is going to use his power at the #2
guy in the Senate to try to block Yucca Mountain or to cut a deal that would
benefit Nevada. Its the cutting of deals that should concern people on all sides
of this issue.
Norm
> http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2002/Jan-24-Thu-2002/news/17940904.html">
> http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2002/Jan-24-Thu-2002/news/17940904.html</A>
> =======================================================
> January 24, 2002
> Las Vegas Review-Journal
>
> NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS: Reid challenges insurance program
> Law enacted in '50s for young industry criticized by some as crutch
>
> By STEVE TETREAULT
> STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
>
> WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., on Wednesday challenged a
> government-backed insurance program that could leave taxpayers liable to pay
> claims from catastrophic accidents at nuclear power plants.
>
> Reid said it may be time for fundamental changes in the Price-Anderson Act,
> enacted in 1957 as a safety net for the then-fledgling nuclear power industry
> but now criticized by some as a crutch. The industry defends the insurance
> system as crucial to its workings.
>
> "The generation and selling of electricity are very different today than 50
> years ago," Reid said at a hearing of the Senate's nuclear safety
> subcommittee. "A new electricity market demands a new Price-Anderson system."
>
> Reid, the panel's chairman, invited testimony from government and industry
> witnesses, and actor-model Christie Brinkley, who sits on the board of
> Standing for Truth About Radiation, an anti-nuclear group on Long Island,
> N.Y.
>
> Brinkley said as a mother of three living in the vicinity of three nuclear
> reactor stations, she is concerned about safety, and beyond that the ability
> of the nuclear industry to come up with adequate funds to pay claims in the
> event of a catastrophic accident.
>
> "This discussion today is really about an industry owning up to its
> responsibilities," Brinkley said. Reid praised her testimony "because you
> speak for a lot of people."
>
> Reid said afterwards he plans to hold more hearings on the Price-Anderson Act
> before deciding on a course of action this year.
>
> The current law expires in August. If the law expires, coverage would
> continue for 103 commercial nuclear plants now operating, but government
> backing would not be available for new facilities.
>
> Nevadans have taken interest in the act because it also covers accidents at
> government nuclear facilities, including the radioactive waste repository
> under consideration for Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
>
> Another controversial part of the law indemnifies government contractors
> involved in nuclear accidents, even if they are found to be negligent. It
> would cover contract operators of a nuclear waste repository and
> transportation firms involved in shipping radioactive materials to a
> repository.
>
> Price-Anderson requires nuclear plant operators to buy $200 million in
> primary insurance per reactor, plus secondary insurance up to $88 million per
> reactor that is put into an industry pool. The pool currently totals $9.5
> billion and is to cover potential accidents at commercial plants and
> government nuclear weapons facilities.
>
> The law requires Congress to step in, and presumably tap taxpayer funds, to
> cover damages above $9.5 billion.
>
> Reid said the private insurance pool may be too small, citing a 1986 General
> Accounting Office report stating costs of a nuclear accident could total
> "hundreds of billions depending on which way the wind is blowing."
>
> He also questioned why the government gets behind insurance for nuclear power
> when it doesn't extend the same treatment for other energy forms.
>
> "The nuclear power industry moved through adolescence and has not settled
> into a comfortable middle age," he said. "It no longer needs the federal
> government to nurture it."
>
> Peter Bradford, an energy lecturer at Yale University and a former member of
> the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said Price-Anderson is "anti-competitive."
>
> As long as their accident liability is limited, companies have fewer
> incentives to explore safer designs, he said.
>
> "It provides a subsidy to nuclear power plants compared to other sources of
> electricity and renewables and even between nuclear power plant designs,"> Bradford said. New designs that might be inherently safer don't enjoy an
> advantage because all would be treated the same under the law, he said.
>
> Bradford suggested calculating the monetary value of Price-Anderson to the
> nuclear industry and then offering an equivalent amount to alternative fuels
> that are "in the startup phase," where nuclear power was 45 years ago when
> Price Anderson was established.
>
> Marvin Fertel, a senior vice president for the Nuclear Energy Institute,
> disputed the notion the nuclear industry enjoys a subsidy. Power companies,
> and by extension their ratepayers, bear the cost of insurance, he said.
>
> Fertel also argued no other energy provider is required to buy insurance as
> the nuclear power industry is. "Risks of dam failure and flooding at
> hydroelectric facilities are borne directly by the public, not the hydropower
> facilities," he said.
>
> At one point, Fertel was talking about nuclear plant workers being concerned
> about safety when Reid interrupted.
>
> "Doesn't Homer Simpson work in a nuclear plant?" he asked.
>
> "Homer Simpson works in Hollywood," Fertel responded.
>
> =========================================================
>
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