Nuclear Liability

Bill C-20, the Nuclear Liability and Compensation Act, is currently before Parliament. If it is passed without amendment it will provide a significant subsidy to the nuclear industry by limiting liability in case of a nuclear accident. To stay informed about this bill, join the email group "Stop Nuclear Subsidies" Contact the members of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources to ask for appropriate amendments to the Bill.

Read our press release: ALBERTA AND SASKATCHEWAN COALITIONS CALL FOR CHANGES TO BILL C-20

Canada has a Nuclear Liability Act that has not increased nuclear corporations liability limit since the law was passed in 1979. The Sustainable Development Commissioner in the Auditor General of Canada's office investigated the lack of progress on a new Act in 2005 and 2008. The Act remains as it was, with nuclear operators only liable for $75 million, while we the people of Canada as taxpayers and/or potential victims of nuclear damage, are left to pay for losses in the billions of dollars in the case of an accident.

Bill C-20 as currently written would increase the industry's liability limit to $650 million from $75 million, yet industry studies show that health costs arising from a nuclear accident in Ontario would be $52 billion alone. The public purse, or the victims themselves, would have to bear these un-insured costs. Read the GreenPeace report on Canada's Nuclear Liability and Compensation Act published in November 2009.

Check your own insurance policy. There will be a "nuclear exclusion clause" such as Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, it is hereby understood and agreed that this policy shall not apply to any loss, damage or expense due to or arising out of, directly or indirectly, nuclear reaction, radiation or radioactive contamination regardless of how it was caused. No insurance company in the world will cover you for losses due to nuclear problems.