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Updated and Expanded
The Price-Anderson Act originally limited liability for any single nuclear accident to $500 million in government funds, plus the maximum liability insurance available in the private market—at that time, $60 million—for $560 million total. Congress has extended the act several times, making significant alterations.

1967 Revision. Congress extended the Price-Anderson Act for 10 years in 1967. A new provision introduced the concept of “extraordinary nuclear occurrence,” which it defined as an accident that proba-bly would cause substantial damage to citizens or property off the plant site because of radioactive contamination. The NRC is responsible for making such a determination.

The declaration waives most normal defenses to tort liability. Anyone who makes a claim need only show 1) bodily injury or property damage, 2) the amount of monetary loss, and 3) that the injury to persons or property and resulting loss were caused by the release of radioactivity due to the accident. Essentially, this is a no-fault insurance program. To date, there has been no such declaration.

1975 Revision. Congress extended the act for another 10 years in 1975, the year it established the two-tiered system now in effect. First-level coverage consisted of the liability insurance provided by two private insurance pools—then $125 million. Second-level coverage now would mandate a $5 million maximum assessment per reactor for each major accident, with a maximum of two accidents per plant per year. The federal government agreed to make up any difference between the amount of protection provided by the first two levels and the $560 million limit.

Effective May 1, 1979, first-level coverage reached $160 million. Secondary coverage reached $400 million when the United States licensed its 80th commercial power reactor in 1982. Combined, the two levels totaled $560 million, reaching the threshold stipulated in the Price-Anderson Act at which the federal government would phase out its indemnity role.

1988 Revision. Congress extended the Price-Anderson Act for 15 years in 1988 and raised second-level coverage from $5 million to $66.2 million, plus adjustments for inflation at five-year intervals. It also increased first-level coverage to $200 million.

The 1988 revision set a per-reactor assessment limit, but it also included a provision stipulating that—if this limit is reached—Congress would determine whether additional compensation should be awarded, and who should provide the compensation. It also provided coverage for a precautionary evacuation in the event of an accident that posed an imminent danger to people or property around a plant site.

In August 1998, the maximum retrospective assessment was adjusted again for inflation and increased to $88.1 million per reactor. These assessments would be prorated and would not exceed $10 million per reactor per year.

2003: Congress Fails to Renew. Congress required the NRC to submit a report four years before the expiration of the act in 2002. The report, duly submitted in September 1998, described the public benefits of Price-Anderson. It also recommended that the act be extended for an additional 10 years. The Department of Energy submitted a report to Congress in March 1999, also recommending renewal of the act. Congress passed a 10-month extension of the act in February 2003 but failed to renew the measure by year’s end, although it did pass a similar measure extending coverage to DOE facilities through Dec. 31, 2006.