§ Mr. Home RobertsonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the requirements for insurance to cover the risk of accidents including radioactive materials following privatisation of the nuclear industry; what assessment he has made of whether appropriate cover is available from commercial insurance sources; what contingency plans have been drawn up for the Government to continue to cover such risks in the absence of commercial insurance; and what charge would be made to the privatised industry for such state insurance. [12240]
§ Mr. PageUnder the Nuclear Installations Act 1965, a UK nuclear generator is required to have insurance for third party nuclear liability of £140 million for any one incident. For claims over £140 million, compensation may be paid out up to a total of around £280 million, from public funds. Parliament may also vote further funds. These arrangements apply whether the operator is in the public or private sector in accordance with the UK's obligations under the Paris and Brussels conventions on civil nuclear liability. When these limits were set in 1994, they took into account the capacity of commercially available insurance.