Federal Liability Subsidies and Preemption

It’s clear that the U.S. nike mens acg sandals 2011 nuclear industry has a "consuming, all-pervasive need" for the federal government (one of the symptoms).  The Union of Concerned Scientists explained how the government satisfies this "need" with federal subsidies here.  On Democracy Now recently, renowned nuclear scientist, Dr. Michio Kaku, explained one of the biggest subsidies – drastic liability limits in the event of an accident, with the U.S. taxpayers on the hook for most of the cost:

You have to have what is called the Price-Anderson Act, having the United States government guarantee the insurance. Nobody will guarantee—nobody will sell an insurance policy for a nuclear power plant, because who can afford a $200 billion accident? That’s why the United States government has underwritten the insurance for every nuclear power plant. So the Price-Anderson Act is an act of Congress that mandates the U.S. government, the taxpayers, will underwrite the insurance, because nuclear power stations are not insurable.

Meanwhile in Japan, where a strong civil justice system does not exist, the industry apparently didn’t even need a subsidy like this to survive.  But now, of course, it looks like they do. The U.K.’s Guardian writes:

Residents and business owners in Japan who have been forced to leave their homes amid radiation fears on Wednesday demanded immediate damages from the company at the centre of the nuclear crisis.

About 20 people who have been evacuated from areas near the Fukushima Daiichi plant protested outside the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) headquarters,nike mens acg sandals 2011  calling for a quick decision on possible compensation.

The company's president, Masataka Shimizu, apologized during a rare public appearance and said he would compensate the tens of thousands of people whose lives have been disrupted by the nuclear emergency.

Despite the magnitude of the accident, and errors in Tepco's initial handling of the crisis, the government appears determined to ensure the firm's survival. Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported that Tepco and the government were considering placing a £15bn to £28bn cap [about $24 to $45 billion] on the company's liabilities to avoid financial ruin in the face of compensation claims that could reach £80bn [$130 billion].

Under the proposals Tepco would be required to pay 100bn to 200bn yen a year for 15 years. Other utilities would contribute to a 2.7tn yen fund, with the remainder of the compensation coming from the state.

Meanwhile, back in the United States, today Vermont Yankee owner Entergy Corp. sued in federal court to make sure that only the federal government has a say as to whether the plant lives or dies, instead of the pesky state of Vermont that is trying to shut it down.  As the Burlington Free Press reports,

The plant last month won permission of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate for another 20 years after its license March 21, 2012, but it has nike mens acg sandals 2011 failed to win state permission amid concerns over tritium leaks and misinformation the company supplied to the state.

The 2006 state law, which Entergy did not actively oppose at the time, requires the Legislature to vote to allow the Public Service Board to grant a certificate of public good. The state Senate, led by then-Senate President Pro Tempore Peter Shumlin, voted 26-4 in 2010 against that. Shumlin was elected governor last fall.

Entergy said its lawsuit points to a 1983 U.S. Supreme Court case that ruled a state has no authority over a nuclear power plant relicensing.

This is going to be a tough fight because Congress, in writing the Atomic Energy Act, preempted the field of nuclear regulation, giving the federal government crushing authority essentially to harm the public with nuclear power even when states say "no" in order to protect their own citizens.  Now that’s love!

Par 112111473 le mardi 19 avril 2011

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