Nuclear Risks

Next Subject

CANADA
U.S.A. DEFINITIONS
OTHER RESOURCES

Canada

Top of page

CANADIAN NUCLEAR LIABILITY ACT
See also NUCLEAR SAFETY AND CONTROL ACT
and NUCLEAR ENERGY ACT

Nuclear Insurance Association of Canada
90 Allstate Parkway
Markham, Ontario L3R 6H3
Tel.: (905) 474-0003; Fax: (905) 474-1567

Originally established in June 1958, the Nuclear Insurance Association of Canada (NIAC) is a voluntary, non-profit, unincorporated association of insurers who provide protection for property insurance and liability insurance pertaining to nuclear installations in Canada. Membership in NIAC consists of stock companies, mutuals, reinsurers and Lloyd's Underwriters licensed in Canada. The federal government has designated NIAC as the authorized insurer of third-party liability insurance for the nuclear operators of designated nuclear installations in Canada. NIAC has full authority to bind eligible nuclear liability and property risks, accept premiums, and pay losses.

See the Canadian Nuclear Association - http://www.cna.ca/english/facts.asp

Nuclear installation
means a structure, establishment or place, or two or more structures, establishments or places at a single location, coming within any of the following descriptions and designated as a nuclear installation for the purposes of this Act by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, namely,

(a) a structure containing nuclear material in such an arrangement that a self-sustaining chain process of nuclear fission can be maintained therein without an additional source of neutrons, including any such structure that forms part of the equipment of a ship, aircraft or other means of transportation,

(b) a factory or other establishment that processes or reprocesses nuclear material, or

"Nuclear material" means
(a) any material, other than thorium or natural or depleted uranium uncontaminated by significant quantities of fission products, that is capable of releasing energy by a self-sustaining chain process of nuclear fission,

(b) radioactive material produced in the production or utilization of material referred to in paragraph (a), and

(c) material made radioactive by exposure to radiation consequential on or incidental to the production or utilization of material referred to in paragraph (a),

but does not include radioactive isotopes that are not combined, mixed or associated with material referred to in paragraph (a);

Operator
Means the holder of a subsisting licence issued pursuant to the Nuclear Safety and Control Act for the operation of a nuclear installation or, in relation to any nuclear installation for the operation of which there is no subsisting licence, the recipient of the licence last issued pursuant to the Nuclear Safety and Control Act for the operation of that nuclear installation.

U.S.A. Definitions

Top of page

American Nuclear Insurers (ANI)
Members: Liability and property insurance companies. Objectives: Provides property and liability coverage for the nuclear energy industry. Founded: 1957. Headquarters: Farmington, CT.

Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (ARAC)
A government sponsored facility established in 1974 at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. Its purpose is to predict the path of radioactive material released in a nuclear accident and to study radioactive releases from atomic bomb tests.

Atomic Energy Act
Federal legislation adopted in 1954 that makes it unlawful for any person to transfer, manufacture, acquire, possess, or use any nuclear material without a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

MAERP Reinsurance Association
A group of over 120 mutual insurance company members that provide reinsurance for Mutual Atomic Energy Liability Underwriters (MAELU) and certain mutual fronting companies that write all-risk, first-party property insurance for nuclear facilities. It was originally called the Mutual Atomic Energy Reinsurance Pool and is now officially known as the MAERP Reinsurance Association.

Motor truck cargo radioactive contamination insurance
A form of inland marine insurance covering a common carrier for damage or destruction due to radioactive contamination from commercial radioisotopes to property being transported.

Mutual Atomic Energy Liability Underwriters (MAELU)
Members: Casualty insurance companies who write nuclear energy liability coverage. Objectives: Providing atomic energy liability insurance. Founded: 1956. Headquarters: Chicago, IL.

Nuclear energy liability insurance
A liability insurance policy that will respond to claims alleging bodily injury and property damage caused by nuclear material located on the company's premises or while in transit. Most liability policies exclude nuclear energy liability, so this coverage must be purchased separately.

Nuclear hazard exclusion
A property policy exclusion that eliminates coverage for a loss caused by any weapon using atomic fission or fusion, or by any nuclear reaction, radiation or radioactive contamination, regardless of cause. However, a fire loss occurring after a nuclear incident is covered.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
A federal agency that regulates the nuclear power industry. The NRC also offers supplemental insurance for nuclear facilities, in addition to private insurance pools.

Price-Anderson Act
A federal law enacted in 1957 that requires owners or operators of nuclear facilities to provide proof of financial responsibility before they are licensed. The act limits a facility's liability to $700 million per nuclear accident.

Radioactive contamination insurance
Property insurance coverage for contamination of property from radioactive materials stored or used on the premises. Coverage is specifically excluded for radiation from nuclear reactors and nuclear fuel.

Residual markets
Specialty insurance markets or facilities designed to assume risks that are generally unacceptable to the normal insurance market. Such markets include assigned risk plans, government insurance programs, and aviation or nuclear pools.

Shippers' radioactive contamination insurance
Inland marine coverage available to shippers of radioactive materials (except those who ship radioactive waste and nuclear reactor fuel), insuring against direct loss or damage caused by radioactive contamination.

Other Resources

Top of page