2002 November 25
Nuclear facilities not exempt from liability
Letters re: Killing the Industry that Saves Lives, Lawrence Solomon, Nov. 12.
The rights of Canadians to compensation following a nuclear accident are entrenched in the federal Nuclear Liability Act (1976). The act streamlines the claim process by channelling liability directly to the operator and removing the need to prove negligence.
The operator, in turn, is given a liability cap of $75-million. If this limit were ever reached (there have been no claims to date), the government is authorized to oversee the balance of claims.
Note that the industry's liability coverage is provided by a consortium of the private insurance industry, and this is precisely why you won't find "nuclear accident" coverage in your homeowner insurance: The insurance industry is particularly sensitive about indemnifying people twice.
One can debate the level of the liability cap, and such discussion is underway at the federal level. It is irresponsible, however, to report that no protection exists.
Furthermore, to suggest the government allows the nuclear industry, possibly the most regulated sector of the Canadian economy, to "operate unaccountably," is absurd. The safety and environmental performance of nuclear generating plants are second to none, and a matter of public record.
Jeremy Whitlock, president, Canadian Nuclear Society and reactor physicist, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., Deep River, Ont.
Larry Solomon manages in his column (Killing the Industry That Saves Lives, Nov. 12) to make a misrepresentation of nuclear liability and its insurance coverage. All Canadians are covered comprehensively for damages from nuclear events by the Nuclear Liability Act. Far from "exempting them from liability," the act requires all operators of nuclear facilities to be absolutely liable for damages arising from a nuclear incident. By doing so, Canadians are spared the necessity of having to go to court to show who was to blame for an accident; they need only demonstrate injury to person or damage to property.
Hence, the exclusion in insurance policies is essential to avoid double jeopardy. Insurers instead participate in a domestic insurance pool that provides coverage to all licensed nuclear installations under the terms of the Nuclear Liability Act. It needs to be emphasized that through the Act, Canadians receive greater assurance that their claims will be honoured expeditiously than would be possible under tort law.
For more than 40 years, nuclear power has been a safe and reliable source of electricity for the people of Canada.
Colin G. Hunt, director of research and publications, Canadian Nuclear Association
Lawrence Solomon (Energy Probe) responds:
The Nuclear Liability Act does cover Canadians in the event of a nuclear accident, as the letter writers state. What they don't state is that the act limits the total coverage available to all Canadians to $75-million. Since damages from a catastrophic accident, according to government bodies in Canada and the United States, could exceed $300-billion, the coverage Canadians would obtain amounts to one-quarter of one-tenth of 1% of their loss. Someone who loses a $200,000 home to a nuclear accident would, in other words, be entitled to the grand sum of $50 in compensation, and nothing else. Mr. Whitlock's tricky language about the government being "authorized to oversee the balance of claims" notwithstanding, the government has no obligation whatsoever to pay Canadians anything else.
For this, we should be grateful, the nuclear industry tells us. We will be "spared the necessity of having to go to court" to collect the $50, and we will get the $50 more quickly than we otherwise might.
Lawrence Solomon is a professional anti-nuclear activist: executive director of Urban Renaissance Institute, a division of Energy Probe Research Foundation. E-mail: LawrenceSolomon@nextcity.com
| 