Recent Developments in the Areas of Nuclear Liability Coverage in the United States of America and International Regimes

This paper will discuss recent nuclear liability developments in the United States. Since this conference has participants from about 17 countries, I also will use this opportunity to address international concerns and developments, including ongoing attempts to adopt a more global nuclear liability regime. I am pleased to have this opportunity to present another paper at my seventh consecutive PATRAM conference, beginning with the 5th PAlRAM here in Las Vegas in 1978. At the 6th PATRAM in Berlin in 1980, the 7th in New Orleans in 1983, the 8th in Davos, Switzerland in 1986, the 9th in Washington, D.C. in 1989, and the lOth in Yokohama, Japan in 1992, I presented descriptions of the PriceAnderson nuclear hazards insurance-indemnity system as it existed at those times. Since then, there have been several further developments here in the United States. These include a 1993 inflation adjustment increasing coverage to a high of US$9.3959 billion, followed by reductions in the amount applicable to power plants due to recent decommissionings; possibly troublesome changes in insurance coverage for workers' tort claims; recent appellate court decisions related to personal injury claims from the 1979 Three Mile Island (TMI) accident; and unresolved issues about coverage for \"mixed waste.\"