The Price Anderson Act limits the financial losses for the nuclear power industry in case of a nuclear accident.

In 1957, Congress passed the Price Anderson Act to help out the growing nuclear industry, since the insurance industry would not insure the nuclear industry. This legislation sets a $560 million dollar limit on liability in the event of a nuclear accident. This limit is quite small in comparison to realistic estimates of damages if a nuclear incident were to occur. The government has various estimates of possible damages, ranging from $6 billion to $280 billion dollars. The meager $560 million limit is also dwarfed by the $16 billion price tag (in 1986 dollars) of Chernobyl.

So who pays the balance? Taxpayers.

Even the $560 million limit is less than it seems, for two reasons. Reason one - costs for the industry to defend claims may be deducted from that amount. Reason two - the nuclear industry is allowed to claim some of its own losses in the event of a nuclear mishap.

The statute of limitations for the Price Anderson Act is 20 years. Many victims of nuclear contamination will experience cancer twenty years, or more, after the nuclear catastrophe. These victims will be left without any compensation for their suffering. Imagine the newborn children downwind of a nuclear power plant that releases radioactivity. Some of those children will suffer cancer years later. Who will pay for their hospital bills?