Price–Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act

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The Price–Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act is a U.S. federal law that establishes a liability and insurance framework to compensate the public in the event of nuclear power accidents while limiting the financial exposure of nuclear industry operators.


Statements (46)
Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal law
nuclear liability law
administeredBy Department of Energy
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
appliesTo Department of Energy nuclear contractors
commercial nuclear power plants
nuclear fuel cycle facilities
nuclear incidents involving radioactive material
appliesToEvent extraordinary nuclear occurrence
country United States
creates federal government indemnification for certain nuclear activities
federal nuclear incident liability framework
primary private insurance layer for nuclear operators
secondary retrospective premium layer funded by nuclear licensees
criticizedFor limiting the potential liability of nuclear operators
shifting some nuclear accident risk to taxpayers
defines extraordinary nuclear occurrence
enactedBy United States Congress
feature authorizes Congress to provide additional compensation beyond statutory limits
caps aggregate industry financial liability for a single nuclear incident
channels liability for nuclear incidents exclusively to the nuclear operator
consolidates nuclear incident claims in federal court
preempts most state tort law for covered nuclear incidents
provides for no-fault public compensation for nuclear incidents
requires nuclear operators to maintain a specified level of private insurance
hasComponent federal indemnification for DOE contractors
primary financial protection
secondary financial protection
hasEffect centralizes nuclear incident liability in a single federal framework
encourages private insurance market participation in nuclear risk coverage
limits the need for individual nuclear operators to self-insure catastrophic risks
provides a predictable maximum liability exposure for nuclear licensees
influenced international nuclear liability regimes
jurisdiction United States federal government
legalArea energy law
environmental law
tort law
purpose to ensure prompt and equitable compensation to the public after nuclear accidents
to establish a system of financial protection for the public in case of nuclear incidents
to limit the liability of nuclear facility operators for nuclear incidents
relatedTo nuclear accident compensation
nuclear industry risk management
nuclear power safety regulation in the United States
signedBy Dwight D. Eisenhower
supportedFor ensuring availability of compensation funds for nuclear accidents
facilitating development of commercial nuclear power

Referenced by (1)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Atomic Energy Act of 1954
influenced

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