Q: In the event of an accident at any of Georgia Power’s reactors in Georgia, who will pay for the cleanup?
-- Don Vining Sr., Alpharetta
A: The Price-Anderson Act provides no-fault insurance in the event of a nuclear power plant accident deemed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to be an “extraordinary nuclear occurrence,” Georgia Power spokeswoman Christy Ihrig told Q&A on the News. Congress passed the Price-Anderson legislation in 1957 as an amendment to the Atomic Energy Act. Through Price-Anderson, the U.S. nuclear power industry has more than $12 billion in liability insurance protection to be used in the event of a reactor incident, she wrote in an e-mail. Neither taxpayers nor the federal government pays for the insurance offered by Price-Anderson. Instead, utilities pay an annual premium for each reactor site. The insurance protection consists of two tiers. The first tier provides $375 million in liability insurance coverage per incident. If this is exhausted, a second tier can provide additional insurance coverage up to $12.6 billion per incident, she wrote.
Q: I know they come up with their individual analysis, but do Glenn Burns (Channel 2 Action News) and Kirk Mellish (WSB radio) use the same forecasting equipment?
-- Gene Wallace, Lawrenceville
A: The meteorologists told Q&A on the News that some of the computer models and radar are different. “We do not collaborate, we have separate storm centers and forecast offices; some of the radar and computer equipment is the same and some is different,” Mellish wrote in an e-mail.
Lori Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or e-mail q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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