ENCLOSURE II Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That: Subsection 11 u. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, is amended to read as follows: "u. The term 'public liability' means any legal APPENDIX 5 MODEL NUCLEAR FACILITIES LIABILITY ACT [Approved by the Commissioners on Uniform State Laws] SECTION 1. [Definitions.] As used in this Act. (1) "byproduct material" means any radioactive material (except special nuclear material) yielded in or made radioactive by exposure to radiation incident to the process of producing or utilizing special nuclear material; (2) "injury" means any harm to person or property for which damages may be recovered under the law of this state; (3) "nuclear facility" means— (A) any nuclear reactor; (B) any equipment or device designed or used for (1) separating the isotopes of uranium or plutonium, (2) processing or utilizing spent fuel, or (3) handling, processing, or packaging waste; (C) any equipment or device used for processing, fabricating, or alloying special nuclear material if at any time the total amount of the material at the site where the equipment or device is located consists of or contains more than 25 grams of plutonium or uranium 233, or any combination thereof, or more than 250 grams of uranium 235; (D) any structure, basin, excavation, premise, or place prepared and used for the storage or disposal of waste, other than facilities utilized exclusively in connection with the transportation of the material; and (E) the site on which any of the above is located; (4) "nuclear incident" means any occurrence or series of occurrences (A) causing, elsewhere than at the nuclear facility, bodily injury, sickness, disease, or death, or loss of or damage to property, or loss of use of property, arising out of or resulting from the radioactive, toxic, explosive, or other hazardous properties of source, special nuclear, or byproduct material; (B) caused by any reason, other than an act of war; (C) occurring either at the nuclear facility or in the course of transportation of source, special nuclear, or byproduct material to or from the facility; and (D) as to which an indemnification agreement exists between the United States Atomic Energy Commission and the operator in accordance with Section 170 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, whether or not indemnification under the agreement may be necessary; (5) "nuclear reactor" means any apparatus designed or used to sustain nuclear fission in a self-supporting chain reaction or to contain a critical mass of special nuclear material; (6) "operator" means the person with whom the United States Atomic Energy Commission has executed an indemnification agreement in accordance with Section 170 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; (7) "person" means (A) an individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, trust, estate, public or private institution, group, Government agency, a State or any political subdivision thereof, or a political entity within a State, a foreign government or nation or a political subdivision of any such government or nation, or other entity and (B) a legal successor, representative, agent, or agency of the foregoing; (8) "source material" means (A) uranium, thorium, or any other material which has been determined by the [United States Atomic Energy Commission] to be source material, or (B) ores containing one or more of the foregoing materials, in any concentration as determined by regulation of [the United States Atomic Energy Commission]; (9) "special nuclear material" means (A) plutonium, uranium enriched in the isotope 233 or in the isotope 235, and any other material which [the United States Atomic Energy Commission] has determined to be special nuclear material; or (B) any material artifically enriched by any of the foregoing, but does not include source material; (10) "spent fuel" means any fuel element or fuel component, solid or liquid, which has been used or exposed to radiation in any nuclear reactor; (11) "waste" means any waste material (A) resulting from the operation of a nuclear facility and (B) containing byproduct material. SEC. 2. [Liability; Nuclear Facilities.] The operator of a nuclear facility is liable, without proof of fault, for an injury arising out of or resulting from a nuclear incident, other than (1) an injury, compensable under a State or Federal workmen's compensation act, of any employee employed at the site of and in connection with the nuclear facility, or (2) an injury to the nuclear facility or to property located at the site of and used in connection with the nuclear facility. SEC. 3. [Application of Act.] This Act applies to (1) an injury suffered in this State arising out of or resulting from a nuclear incident either within or without this State and (2) an injury suffered outside this State arising out of or resulting from a nuclear incident within this State. SEC. 4. [Exclusive Liability.] If in any action an operator is liable without proof of fault under section 2 or a substantially similar statute, either in this State or by application of controlling law rules and if jurisdiction can be obtained over the operator in such an action, the operator is exclusively liable, and no action may be brought against any other person with respect to the injury. SEC. 5. [Limitations.] No action may be brought under this Act more than three years after the person suffering or incurring the injury knows, or reasonably could have knowledge of, the cause of the injury or more than ten years after the date of the last occurrence to which the injury is attributed, whichever first occurs. SEC. 6. [Effect of Other Laws.] The provisions of this Act do not affect, amend, or repeal (1) any other rule or provision of law governing immunity to suit, the conditions and effect of a waiver of immunity, or the effect of the purchase of insurance upon the insurer or the insured, (2) any other provisions of law governing liability for injuries not covered by this Act, limiting the amount of recovery for injuries covered by this Act, or governing the kinds of injuries for which damages may be awarded, or (3) unless otherwise provided by this Act, any other provisions of law relating to the establishment and proof of legal liability. SEC. 7. [Repeal.] The following acts and parts of acts are hereby repealed: (a) (b) (c) SEC. 8. [Time of Taking Effect.] This Act shall take effect * * * APPENDIX 6 STATEMENT BY CONGRESSMAN MELVIN PRICE INTRODUCING H.R. 9244, A BILL EXTENDING THE COVERAGE OF THE INDEMNITY PROVISIONS OF THE ATOMIC ENERGY ACT OF 1954, TO INCLUDE NUCLEAR INCIDENTS OCCURRING OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES, AND BILL ANALYSIS The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under previous order of the House, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Price] is recognized for 10 minutes. Mr. PRICE. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing today a bill to expand the coverage of the indemnity provisions of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 so as to cover nuclear incidents occurring outside the United States. Without objection I request that an analysis of the bill be inserted in the Record at the conclusion of my remarks. I am introducing this bill at this time without any expectation or wish that it be brought to the floor for action at this session. It is my hope in introducing the bill at this time, that interested parties will have the opportunity between now and the next session to study the bill and the accompanying analysis in order that the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy may have their best thinking on this important and somewhat technical subject. [H.R. 9244, 87th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 11 o. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 is amended to read as follows: "o. The term 'nuclear incident' means any occurrence within the United States causing, within or outside the United States, bodily injury, sickness, disease, or death, or loss of or damage to property, or loss of use of property, arising out of or resulting from the radioactive, toxic, explosive, or other hazardous properties of source, special nuclear, or byproduct material: Provided, how ever, That as the term is used in subsection 170 1., it shall mean any such occurrence outside of the United States rather than within the United States: And provided further, That as the term is used in section 170 d., it shall include any such occurrence either within the United States or outside the United States." SEC. Section 11 r. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 is amended to read as follows: "r. The term 'person indemnified' means the person with whom an indemnity agreement is executed and also (1) with respect to a nuclear incident occurring within the United States and with respect to a nuclear incident in connection with the design, development, construction, operation, repair, maintenance, or use of the nuclear ship Savannah, any other person who may be liable for public liability, or (2) with respect to any other nuclear incident occurring outside the United States, any other person who may be liable for public liability as a result of his activities under any contract with the Commission or under any subcontract, purchase order, or other agreement of any tier under any such contract." SEC. 3. Section 170 d. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 is amended by adding before the period at the end of the second sentence thereof the following proviso: ": Provided, That in the case of nuclear incidents occurring outside the United States, the amount of the indemnity provided by the Commission shall not exceed the legal limit of liability of persons responsible for nuclear incidents in effect in the jurisdiction where the the nuclear incident occurs." SEC. 4. Section 170 e. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 is amended to read as follows: "e. The aggregate liability for a single nuclear incident of persons indemnified, including the reasonable costs of investigating and settling claims and defending suits for damage, shall not exceed the sum of $500,000,000 together with the amount of financial protection required of the licensee or contractor. The Commission or any person indemnified may apply to the appropriate district court of the United States having venue in bankruptcy matters over the location of the nuclear incident; except that in the case of nuclear incidents occurring outside the United States, the Commission or any person indemnified may apply to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and upon a showing that the public liability from a single nuclear incident will probably exceed the limit of liability imposed by this section, shall be entitled to such orders as may be appropriate for enforcement of the provisions of this section, including an order limiting the liability of the persons indemnified, orders staying the payment of claims and the execution of court judgments, orders apportioning the payments to be made to claimants, orders permitting partial payments to be made before final determination of the total claims, and an order setting aside a part of the funds available for possible latent injuries not discovered until a later time." SEC. 5. From and after the date of enactment of this Act, the terms "nuclear incident" and "person indemnified", as used in indemnity agreements entered into by the Atomic Energy Commission pursuant to section 170 d. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, shall have the meaning provided by the amendments made by the first two sections of this Act. BILL ANALYSIS The general purpose of the bill is to make Price-Anderson Act indemnity coverage available in the AEC contractor program for nuclear incidents occurring outside the United States. Section 1 amends section 11 o. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the definition of "nuclear incident") in two respects: (A) The qualifying clause, "within or outside the United States," has been inserted after the word "causing" in section 11 o. The effect of this amendment is to clarify Price-Anderson Act coverage in the situation where incidents occur within the United States but cause damage outside the United States. Although the General Counsel of the Atomic Energy Commission has held that PriceAnderson Act coverage extends to this situation, it may be desirable to clarify the coverage through this amendment. (B) A second proviso has been added to the definition of "nuclear incident" as follows: "And provided further, That as the term is used in section 170 d., it shall include any such occurrence either within the United States or outside the United States." This new proviso is the heart of the amendment. Its purpose is to make clear that with respect to persons having indemnity agreements under section 170d (AEC contractors in the atomic energy program, the definition of nuclear incident will encompass an occurrence outside the United States. Section 2 of the bill amends section 11r of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, to establish two separate categories of coverage which depend respectively upon the place where the nuclear incident occurs. Price-Anderson Act coverage has, from its inception, extended to any person who may be liable for public liability. This coverage was predicated on the fact that the Price-Anderson Act was meant to protect the public. As such, there was no reason to restrict coverage to those situations in which contractors or licensees of the Commission were the persons liable. This coverage has been preserved in this amendment with respect to incidents occurring within the United States and with respect to the operation of the nuclear ship Savannah. It is reflected in section 2, clause (1). The theory of coverage outlined above, however, does not underlie the extension of Price-Anderson indemnity to incidents outside the United States. The principal purpose of this extended coverage is to protect AEC contractors and subcontractors. Therefore, coverage in section 2, clause (2) has been limited to the contractor himself, or to any other person who may be liable for public liability provided that the other person's liability results from his activities under a subcontract, purchase order, or other agreement of any tier under the basic contract. The class of contractors covered by Price-Anderson indemnity is not affected by the terms of this amendment. Thus, contractors of the Commission or contractors of the Commission and another Government agency under a joint program, having an existing Price-Anderson agreement will continue to be so covered. The only change, as a result of this amendment, is that such contractors and their subcontractors and suppliers-will have the benefits of PriceAnderson indemnity for incidents occurring outside the United States. As a practical matter, this amendment will permit the AEC to indemnify its contractors for public liability arising out of or in connection with the contractual activity, even if the incident occurs outside the United States. For example, firms such as General Electric and Westinghouse and their subcontractors and suppliers would be covered if an incident, arising out of the operation of a nuclear submarine and traceable to their activities under an AEC contract, or a Navy contract with respect to which the Commission had extended its indemnity coverage, caused damage abroad. The same coverage would apply to contractors in the AEC-NASA joint Rover program. In general, the coverage described above would be for "products liability." In addition, firms under contract with AEC for the operation of facilities abroad (Martin Co. in Antarctica) would have the benefit of Price-Anderson indemnity coverage for incidents arising out of such operations. Under present Commission policy in administering the Price-Anderson Act, the following persons and activities would not be covered: (1) Suppliers of components of naval reactors to DOD under contract with DOD. (2) Suppliers or assemblers of components of nuclear weapons. (3) Commercial exporters of reactors or reactor components. (4) Operation outside the United States of nuclear powerplants procured by DOD: e.g., Greenland. Section 3 of the bill amends section 170d of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, by adding a proviso at the end of the second sentence. The effect of the proviso is to assure that the Commission will not be liable for indemnity payments on a judgment rendered by a foreign court in excess of the locally applicable limit of liability for nuclear incidents, whether that limit be established by national legislation or international convention. Section 4 of the bill amends section 170e of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, to establish a single place of venue over all applications for limitation of liability in connection with incidents occurring outside the United States. The place of venue established is the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Section 170e now provides that, in connection with the Savannah, applications for limitation of liability must be filed in the district court "having venue in bankruptcy matters over the location of the principal place of business of the shipping company owning or operating the ship." This amendment would bring |