Study On The Insurance System Of Spent Fuel Transportation

The construction of a systematic spent fuel transportation insurance system is based on the premise that China's nuclear power plants are rapidly developing and that spent fuel transportation is about to become an important area for nuclear power development.To explore the rational path of establishing a spent fuel transportation insurance system,it is necessary to first clarify its basic content,that is,to define the nature and core elements of spent fuel transportation insurance.By clarifying the nature of spent fuel transportation insurance,which is mandatory policy insurance and generalized property insurance,it can further limit its core elements to four aspects of insurance coverage,insurance subject,scope of insurance liability and risk-sharing mechanism.Insurance coverage determines what type of insurance legal relationship the subject of insurance enters into,so the insurance coverage of spent fuel transportation is the prerequisite for determining other insurance contents.The nuclear safety law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that the operating units of nuclear facilities shall have the obligation to insure against the safe use of nuclear energy and require the nuclear facilities operators to ensure adequate financial guarantees for the body injury,property damage or environmental damage that may result from a nuclear accident.However,in the practice of spent fuel transportation,the nuclear facilities operators and the carrier have only insured against nuclear damage third Party liability insurance,while having not insured nuclear property insurance which protects property interests and nuclear employer liability insurance which protects the interests of employees in transportation.The reasonable and perfect range of insurance should include these three kinds of insurance,in order to realize the insurance coverage of the spent fuel transportation process and ensure the nuclear safety of the whole transportation link.On the one hand,the insurance subject in the spent fuel transportation insurance system is controversial because of the ambiguity and conflicts between China's nuclear energy related laws and regulations,such as the Nuclear Safety Law of the People's Republic of China and the State Council's reply on the liability for damages caused by nuclear accidents(Letter of State [2007] No.64)have different definitions in terms of nuclear facility operator and the carriers.On the other hand,nuclear facility operator and the carriers in practice have not complied with the “Limited Principle of Liability for Nuclear Damage”.Interpretation of the comprehensive international experience and the provisions of the legal norms of the liability subject in China and the insurance subject can be seen that as the third party liability insurance for nuclear damage,the nuclear facility operator is the most reasonable insurance subject,and since the transport property belongs to the carrier,the carrier shall insure the nuclear property insurance.After solving the relevant problems of the insurance subject,it is also necessary to clarify whether the “significant natural disasters” in the scope of the liability for spent fuel transportation should be included in the exclusion responsibility and whether “environmental damage” should be included in the scope of responsibility.After finishing the comprehensive analysis of extraterritorial experience and relevant provisions of China's nuclear energy legislation,it can be found that,on the one hand,it is unreasonable and illegal to define “significant natural disasters” as unreasonable exclusion obligations;on the other hand,it is necessary to include “environmental damage” in insurance liability.Therefore,it is necessary to reasonably explain the definitions of “nuclear damage” and “environmental damage”,and also to determine the scope of compensation for environmental damage.Therefore,the nuclear facility operator should modify the insurance liability and the exclusion liability of the policy when insuring the content of nuclear damage third party liability insurance to the China Nuclear Insurance Community,so that it complies with the law and maximizes the nuclear insurance protection function.The risk sharing mechanism of spent fuel transport insurance is to ensure adequate funding for the spent fuel transportation insurance system.From the domestic level,China needs to regulate the use of spent fuel treatment and disposal funds,and to achieve spent fuel treatment and disposal funds' support for the spent fuel transport insurance system through the legal provisions or policy guidance.Developing the model of self-insurance of nuclear insurance is another effective way to disperse nuclear risks.From an international perspective,China needs to actively participate in the international convention system for nuclear damage in order to obtain support from the international public financial guarantee mechanism.