Cost of German Solar is Four Times Finnish Nuclear

[kristopher]

50. Under-insured is more accurate.

There is virtually no money in the insured amounts for the surrounding area and its residents. All the insurance does is protect the utility from the loss of their facility. There are other problems also, such as the drawn out time frame involved in gathering the money after the accident.

As shown in Table 21, retrospective premiums provide the vast majority (nearly 95 percent) of available coverage for any nuclear accident.

At present, the U.S. system provides the largest pool of coverage for a nuclear accident of any country in the world.83 However, this distinction may be more of an indication of the severity of coverage shortfalls in other countries than a tribute to U.S. rules and regulations. In terms of gross value, the available funds for U.S. compensation are well in excess of $12 billion; however, the funding drops to roughly $8.5 billion on a net-present-value basis. While the present value of available coverage is not usually discussed by the industry when outlining provisions for an accident scenario, it is a more appropriate metric given the seven-year lag between an accident and final retrospective-premium payments. In reality, both U.S. and global storm events have exceeded this level of damage, an indication that the limits likely would not be sufficient for nuclear accidents. While the pool of available coverage has grown over the past 50 years, that period has also seen sharp increases in the populations that could be affected by an accident, in the value of real estate and infrastructure within potentially affected areas, and in court recognition (via jury awards) of ancillary damage—such as environmental damages and lost wages for injured workers—from accidents.85

A simple evaluation of coverage per person, should an accident occur at a reactor located close to a population center, helps to illustrate this point. Table 21 uses as an example a reactor at Calvert Cliffs, located near Washington, DC, and Baltimore, MD. Available coverage, including pooled premiums from all other reactors (as stipu- lated under Price-Anderson), barely tops $1,100 per person in the Baltimore/Washington combined statistical area. This small amount would need to cover not only loss of property from an accident but also morbidity or mortality. The portion paid by Calvert Cliffs to cover the off-site accident risk from its own operations (Tier 1 coverage plus its share of Tier 2) would be a mere $60 per person affected. While the extent of the injuries would vary with the specifics of an accident, the weather at the time, and patterns of local settlement and construction, for a metropolitan area of this size it is clear that the coverage provided by Price- Anderson is not large.

Nuclear Power: Still Not Viable without Subsidies pg 69-70 Koplow

This is part of an excellent discussion on PAA, you really should read it. Available via Google.