§ 53.1720 Insurance required to stabilize and decontaminate plant following an accident.
Each commercial nuclear plant licensee under this part must take reasonable steps to obtain insurance available at reasonable costs and on reasonable terms from private sources or to demonstrate that it possesses an equivalent amount of protection covering the licensee's obligation, in the event of an accident at the licensee's commercial nuclear reactor, to stabilize and decontaminate the plant and the plant site at which such an accident may occur, provided that—
(a) The insurance required by this section must have a minimum coverage limit for each commercial nuclear plant site of $1.06 billion, an amount based on plant-specific estimates of costs to stabilize and decontaminate a plant, or whatever amount of insurance is generally available from private sources, whichever is less. The required insurance must clearly state that, as and to the extent provided in paragraph (d)(1) of this section, any proceeds must be payable first for stabilization of the plant and next for decontamination of the plant and the plant site. If a licensee's coverage falls below the required minimum, the licensee must within 60 days take all reasonable steps to restore its coverage to the required minimum. The required insurance may, at the option of the licensee, be included within policies that also provide coverage for other risks, including, but not limited to, the risk of direct physical damage.
(b)(1) With respect to policies issued or annually renewed, the proceeds of such required insurance must be dedicated, as and to the extent provided in this paragraph (b), to reimbursement or payment on behalf of the insured of reasonable expenses incurred or estimated to be incurred by the licensee in taking action to fulfill the licensee's obligation, in the event of an accident at the licensee's plant, to ensure that the plant is in, or is returned to, and maintained in, a safe and stable condition and that radioactive contamination is removed or controlled such that personnel exposures are consistent with the occupational exposure limits in 10 CFR part 20. These actions must be consistent with any other obligation the licensee may have under this chapter and must be subject to paragraph (d) of this section. As used in this section, an “accident” means an event that involves the release of radioactive material from its intended place of confinement within the commercial nuclear plant such that there is a present danger of release off site in amounts that would pose a threat to the public health and safety.
(2) The stabilization and decontamination requirements set forth in paragraph (d) of this section must apply uniformly to all insurance policies required under this section.
(c) The licensee shall report to the NRC on April 1 of each year the current levels of this insurance or financial security it maintains and the sources of this insurance or financial security.
(d)(1) In the event of an accident at the licensee's plant, whenever the estimated costs of stabilizing the licensed plant and of decontaminating the plant and the plant site exceed one tenth of the minimum insurance under paragraph (a) of this section, the proceeds of the insurance required by this section must be dedicated to and used, first, to ensure that the licensed plant is in, or is returned to, and can be maintained in, a safe and stable condition so as to prevent any significant risk to the public health and safety and, second, to decontaminate the plant and the plant site in accordance with the licensee's cleanup plan as approved by order of the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. This priority on insurance proceeds must remain in effect for 60 days or, upon order of the Director, for such longer periods, in increments not to exceed 60 days except as provided for activities under the cleanup plan required in paragraphs (d)(3) and (d)(4) of this section, as the Director may find necessary to protect the public health and safety. Actions needed to bring the plant to and maintain the plant in a safe and stable condition may include one or more of the following, as appropriate:
(i) Shutdown of the reactor(s) and other processes at the plant;
(ii) Establishment and maintenance of long-term cooling with stable decay heat removal;
(iii) Maintenance of sub-criticality;
(iv) Control of radioactive releases; and
(v) Securing of structures, systems, or components to minimize radiation exposure to onsite personnel or to the offsite public or to facilitate later decontamination or both.
(2) The licensee must inform the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation in writing when the plant is and can be maintained in a safe and stable condition so as to prevent any significant risk to the public health and safety. Within 30 days after the licensee informs the Director that the plant is in this condition, or at such earlier time as the licensee may elect or the Director may for good cause direct, the licensee must prepare and submit a cleanup plan for the Director's approval. The cleanup plan must identify and contain an estimate of the cost of each cleanup operation that will be required to decontaminate the reactor sufficiently to permit the licensee either to resume operation of the reactor or to apply to the Commission under subpart G of this part for authority to decommission the reactor and to surrender the license voluntarily. Cleanup operations may include one or more of the following, as appropriate:
(i) Processing any contaminated materials generated by the accident and by decontamination operations to remove radioactive materials;
(ii) Decontamination of surfaces inside the plant buildings to levels consistent with the Commission's occupational exposure limits in 10 CFR part 20, and decontamination or disposal of equipment;
(iii) Decontamination or removal and disposal of internal parts, damaged fuel from the reactor coolant or fuel systems, or related process or waste systems; and
(iv) Cleanup of the reactor coolant or fuel systems or related process or waste systems.
(3) Following review of the licensee's cleanup plan, the Director will order the licensee to complete all operations that the Director finds are necessary to decontaminate the reactor sufficiently to permit the licensee either to resume operation of the reactor or to apply to the Commission under subpart G of this part for authority to decommission the reactor and to surrender the license voluntarily. The Director must approve or disapprove, in whole or in part for stated reasons, the licensee's estimate of cleanup costs for such operations. Such order may not be effective for more than one year, at which time it may be renewed. Each subsequent renewal order, if imposed, may be effective for not more than 6 months.
(4) Of the balance of the proceeds of the required insurance not already expended to place the plant in a safe and stable condition under paragraph (b)(1) of this section, an amount sufficient to cover the expenses of completion of those decontamination operations that are the subject of the Director's order must be dedicated to such use, provided that, upon certification to the Director of the amounts expended previously and from time to time for stabilization and decontamination and upon further certification to the Director as to the sufficiency of the dedicated amount remaining, policies of insurance may provide for payment to the licensee or other loss payees of amounts not so dedicated, and the licensee may proceed to use in parallel (and not in preference thereto) any insurance proceeds not so dedicated for other purposes.