In a Federal Register Notice issued September 24, the NRC has implemented an inflation adjustment to the amount of Price-Anderson financial protection that is available effective November 1, 2018. The inflation adjustment is mandated every five years under the terms of the Price-Anderson Act, as amended (Section 170 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954). The maximum total deferred premium will be increased from $121.255 million to $131.056 million, per operating reactor, per incident. The maximum annual assessment will be increased from $18.963 million to $20.496 million, per operating reactor, per incident.
Pursuant to Section 170.o.(1)(E) of the Atomic Energy Act, the maximum deferred premium is subject to a 5% assessment for administrative costs. Thus, the total exposure for each operating unit will be approximately $137.6 million. This is the amount that should be used for calculating total nuclear liability exposure in disclosures that are made in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The total protection available in excess of the $450 million Facility Form coverage issued by American Nuclear Insurers will be approximately $13.6 billion, with 99 operating reactors participating as of November 2018.
The Secretary of Energy is also expected to implement a five‑year inflation adjustment for US Department of Energy (DOE) indemnities issued to DOE contractors. The current indemnity coverage of approximately $12.698 billion can be expected to be inflation adjusted to approximately $13.724 billion.