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59-676: The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) is a facility located in McCracken County, Kentucky , near Paducah, Kentucky that produced enriched uranium from 1952 to 2013. It is owned by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) . The PGDP was the only operating uranium enrichment facility in the United States from 2001 to 2010. The Paducah plant produced low-enriched uranium, originally as feedstock for military reactors and weapons, and later for commercial nuclear power fuel. The gaseous diffusion plant covers 750 acres (300 ha) of

118-472: A 3,556 acres (1,439 ha) site. The four process buildings cover 74 acres (30 ha), and consumed a peak electrical demand of 3,040 megawatts. DOE leased the facility to a publicly held company, USEC, from the mid-1990s. USEC ceased operations in 2013 and returned the facility to the Department of Energy for decontamination and decommissioning. The former Kentucky Ordnance Works site was chosen from

177-409: A candidate list of eight sites in 1950. The construction contractor was F.H. McGraw of Hartford, Connecticut and the operating company was Union Carbide . The plant was opened in 1952 as a government-owned, contractor-operated facility producing enriched uranium to fuel military reactors and for use in nuclear weapons. The mode of enrichment was gaseous diffusion of uranium hexafluoride to separate

236-513: A claim has been met, or their maximum individual liability (the $ 121,255,000 maximum) has been reached. This results in a maximum combined primary+secondary coverage amount of up to $ 13.06 billion for a hypothetical single-reactor incident. If a coverable incident occurs, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is required to submit a report on the cost of it to the courts and to Congress. If claims are likely to exceed

295-480: A female householder with no husband present, and 33.50% were non-families. 29.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.86. In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.40% under the age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 24.70% from 45 to 64, and 15.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age

354-526: A framework for operation of nuclear plants under government control. The intention of the government was to apply this technology to civilian industry, especially in using nuclear plants to generate electricity. In 1954, the Atomic Energy Act Amendments Act removed the government monopoly on operating nuclear plants by creating a licensing system for private operators. The structure of the insurance industry as it existed until 1955

413-556: A portion of District 2 representing the south of the county and Graves County; most of the county outside of Paducah by District 1, which encompasses counties of Ballard , Carlisle , Hickman and Fulton along the Mississippi River; and a tiny sliver of the east of McCracken County near Reidland is represented by the 6th District (centered on Marshall and Lyon counties). In the State Senate, all of McCracken County

472-464: A portion of the Act that indemnifies Department of Energy and private contractors from nuclear incidents even in cases of gross negligence and willful misconduct (although criminal penalties would still apply). "No other government agency provides this level of taxpayer indemnification to non-government personnel". The Energy Department counters those critics by saying that the distinction is irrelevant, since

531-580: Is not generally held financially liable for catastrophic incidents such as dam failure or resultant flooding. For example, dam operators were not held liable for the 1977 failure of the Teton Dam in Idaho that caused approximately $ 500 million in property damage. While many industries have no explicit liability cap, in practice, liability in such industries may be limited to the assets of the company held to be at fault. In addition, liability can be disputed in

590-504: Is represented by the 2nd District and its State Senator Danny Carroll (R). County The county is led by an elected County Judge Executive, Craig Clymer, and three commissioners elected from single-member districts. According to the United States Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 268 square miles (690 km ), of which 249 square miles (640 km ) is land and 19 square miles (49 km ) (7.2%)

649-550: Is water. The county's northern border with Illinois is formed by the Ohio River , and its northeastern border by the Tennessee River . As of the census of 2000, there were 65,514 people, 27,736 households, and 18,444 families residing in the county. The population density was 261 per square mile (101/km ). There were 30,361 housing units at an average density of 121 per square mile (47/km ). The racial makeup of

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708-539: The 2020 census , the population was 67,875. The county seat and only municipality is Paducah . McCracken County was the 78th county formed in the state, having been created in 1825. It is part of the historic Jackson Purchase , territory sold by the Chickasaw people to General Andrew Jackson and Governor Isaac Shelby ; this territory was located at the extreme western end of Kentucky. Paducah developed based on its "River and Rail" traffic. Steamboats, barges, and

767-543: The Cato Institute . Public Citizen has been particularly critical of Price-Anderson; it claims that the Act understates the risks inherent in atomic power, does not require reactors to carry adequate insurance, and would therefore result in taxpayers footing most of the bill for a catastrophic accident. An analysis by economists Heyes and Heyes (1998) places the value of the government insurance subsidy at $ 2.3 million per reactor-year, or $ 237 million annually. In 2008,

826-696: The Illinois Central Railroad were the basis of the economy into the late 20th century. In the 1920s, the Illinois Central built the largest operating, and maintenance base in the world here. McCracken County is the central county of the Paducah, KY- IL Metropolitan Statistical Area . McCracken County was founded in 1825 from Hickman County; it was named for Captain Virgil McCracken of Woodford County, Kentucky , who

885-553: The Kentucky Community and Technical College System . Like all other schools in this system, WKCTC offers associate degrees . The state's largest public university, the University of Kentucky , operates a branch campus of its College of Engineering at WKCTC. Murray State University offers bachelor's degree programs and master's degrees . A new 43,000 square foot facility located on a 23-acre campus adjacent to WKCTC

944-513: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published State-of-the-Art Reactor Consequence Analyses (SOARCA), which examines potential safety failures with probabilities of "occurring more than once in a million reactor years, or more than once in ten million reactor years for accidents that may bypass containment features". To address these issues, Congress introduced the Price-Anderson Act in 1957. The Act required companies to obtain

1003-583: The Tucker Act (in which the government waives its sovereign immunity ) for failure by the federal government to carry out its duty to compensate claimants. Price-Anderson also covers Department of Energy (DOE) facilities, private licensees, and their subcontractors including the USEC uranium enrichment plants, national laboratories and the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository . Any payments from

1062-476: The poverty line , including 21.90% of those under age 18 and 12.30% of those age 65 or over. Public elementary and secondary education in the county is provided by two school districts : Several private schools also provide K-12 education. These institutions include the St. Mary System and Community Christian Academy. Higher education is provided by West Kentucky Community and Technical College in Paducah, part of

1121-406: The $ 15 billion would be covered by a Congressional mandate to retroactively increase nuclear utility liability or would be covered by the federal government. At the time of the Act's passing, it was considered necessary as an incentive for the private production of nuclear power — this was because electric utilities viewed the available liability coverage (only $ 60 million) as inadequate. In 1978,

1180-641: The Act survived a constitutional challenge in the Supreme Court case Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group (see below ). The Act's indemnification policy was last renewed in 2024 through 2045 within the ADVANCE Act . Power reactor licensees are required by the act to obtain the maximum amount of insurance against nuclear related incidents which is available in the insurance market (as of 2017 , $ 450 million per reactor). Any monetary claims that fall within this maximum amount are paid by

1239-483: The Act was extended to 2017. The individual insurance for each site was increased to $ 300 million while fund contributions per reactor were increased to $ 95.8 million. In 2005, it was extended again through 2025 via the Energy Policy Act of 2005 . In July 2024, the act was extended through 2045 as part of the ADVANCE Act . Over the first 43 years of the Price-Anderson Act to 2000, the secondary insurance

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1298-492: The Act. In 1988, the act was extended for 15 years up to August 2002. Individual insurance for each generator was increased to $ 200 million, and the total fund to $ 9.5 billion. For each reactor owned, the reactor company was liable to contribute up to $ 63 million towards compensation for any claim against any company, though this could only be recovered at a maximum rate of $ 10 million per year. Assessments were to be adjusted for inflation every 5 years. The same level of indemnity

1357-501: The Congressional Budget Office estimated the value of the subsidy at only $ 600,000 per reactor per year, or less than one percent of the levelized cost for new nuclear capacity. All such calculations are controversial, as they rely on the difficult assessment of extrapolating what the "true" probabilities are of a catastrophic event at the extreme cost brackets. Due to the structure of the liability immunities, as

1416-502: The Department of Energy has paid out $ 65 million. The Act makes a number of changes to typical civil court procedures : The Price-Anderson Act is named for Representative Charles Melvin Price (D-IL) and Senator Clinton Presba Anderson (D-NM), both of whom eventually chaired Congress's Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. The Atomic Energy Act of 1946, which followed the development of nuclear technology during World War II , had created

1475-584: The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund for all oil imported or produced. In exchange for the payment, operators of offshore oil platforms , among others, are limited in liability to $ 75 million for damages, which can be paid by the fund, but are not indemnified from the cost of cleanup. As of 2010, before payouts related to the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion , the fund stood at $ 1.6 billion. The hydroelectric industry

1534-488: The Paducah gaseous diffusion plant came from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). During enrichment operations approximately 1200 people were needed to operate the plant. Since cessation of enrichment activities the site employs around 1400 people through contractors to maintain the grounds, portions of the infrastructure, deactivate, optimize utilities and to remediate environmental contamination at

1593-408: The United States before 2026. The main purpose of the Act is to partially compensate the nuclear industry against liability claims arising from nuclear incidents while still ensuring compensation coverage for the general public. The Act establishes a no fault insurance -type system in which the first approximately $ 15 billion (as of 2021) is industry-funded as described in the Act. Any claims above

1652-479: The absence of strict liability laws. As a non-power example, after the 1984 Bhopal disaster , the Union Carbide Corporation claimed the accident was caused by sabotage and settled for only $ 470 million. The Price-Anderson Act has been criticized by various think tanks and environmental organizations, including Union of Concerned Scientists , Greenpeace International , Public Citizen and

1711-581: The case of Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group link . The lawsuit challenged the act on two grounds — first, that it violated the Fifth Amendment because it did not ensure adequate compensation for victims of accidents, and that it violated the Fourteenth Amendment because it treats nuclear accidents differently from other accidents. The court concluded: US law requires payment of 8 cents per barrel of oil to

1770-420: The county was 86.76% White , 10.88% Black or African American , 0.22% Native American , 0.51% Asian , 0.05% Pacific Islander , 0.40% from other races , and 1.18% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.06% of the population. There were 27,736 households, out of which 29.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.10% were married couples living together, 12.20% had

1829-509: The county's economy was strengthened by construction of the railroad to Paducah. The railroads based operations and maintenance in Paducah, and the men in many families had careers as firemen, repairment, and related jobs. Federal McCracken County is part of Kentucky's 1st congressional district . State In the Kentucky General Assembly , McCracken is represented by the entirety of District 3 representing Paducah;

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1888-467: The damage to the public would be the same. These beyond-insurance costs for worst-case scenarios are not unique to nuclear power, as hydroelectric power plants are similarly not fully insured against a catastrophic event such as the Banqiao Dam disaster, or large dam failures in general. As private insurers base dam insurance premiums on limited scenarios, major disaster insurance in this sector

1947-518: The drinking water wells of residences located near the plant site in McCracken County, Kentucky. To protect human health, the Department of Energy provided city water at no cost to the affected residents, and continues to do so. In the 1980s, the family of former employee Joe Harding brought a lawsuit relating to medical conditions that they believed he incurred from having worked at the Paducah plant. His widow Clara Harding eventually settled

2006-469: The fund for accidents arising at DOE facilities come from the US treasury. The fund size for such installations is set by legislation (also at $ 12.6 billion), rather than being based upon the number of plants contributing to the fund. Since Price-Anderson was enacted, nuclear insurance pools have paid out about $ 151 million ($ 70 million of which was related to the 1979 Three Mile Island accident ) in claims, while

2065-436: The insurer(s). The Price-Anderson fund, which is financed by the reactor companies themselves, is then used to make up the difference. As of September 2013, each reactor company is obliged to contribute up to $ 121,255,000 per reactor in the event of an accident with claims that exceed the $ 450 million insurance limit. As of 2013 , the maximum amount of the fund is approximately $ 12.61 billion ($ 121,255,000 × 104 reactors) if all of

2124-407: The largest insurance companies in the country. By 1966, it had become apparent that the industry would still be unable to obtain adequate private insurance, so the act was extended until 1976. A provision was added to the Act which prevented companies from offering certain defenses to damages claims (particularly defenses which claimed that the accident had not been their fault). A minimum time limit

2183-548: The lighter fissile isotope U-235 from the heavier non- fissile isotope U-238. The Paducah plant produced low-enriched uranium which was further refined at Portsmouth and the K-25 plant at Oak Ridge, Tennessee . From the 1960s the Paducah plant was dedicated to uranium enrichment for nuclear power plants. In 1984, the operating contract was assumed by Martin Marietta Energy Systems . Lockheed Martin operated

2242-496: The maximum Price-Anderson fund value, then the President is required to submit proposals to Congress. These proposals must detail the costs of the accident, recommend how funds should be raised, and detail plans for full and prompt compensation to those affected. Under the Act, the administrators of the fund have the right to further charge plants if it is needed. If Congress fails to provide for compensation, claims can be made under

2301-490: The maximum possible insurance coverage against accidents, determined to be $ 60 million, and provided a further government commitment of $ 500 million to cover any claims in excess of the private insurance. Companies were relieved of any liability beyond the insured amount for any incident involving radiation or radioactive releases regardless of fault or cause. The act was intended to be temporary, and to expire in August 1967 as it

2360-633: The number of nuclear plants in operation is reduced, the public liability in case of an accident goes up. However, going in the other direction, the Nuclear Waste Fund was/is used to transfer $ 750 million in fee revenues each year from utilities to the Government and this is hard currency, unlike the conceptual insurance/indemnity Act. The Price-Anderson Act has been used as an example of corporate welfare by Ralph Nader . Price-Anderson has been criticized by many of these groups due to

2419-461: The plant until USEC leased the facility in the mid-1990s. The Paducah plant had a capacity of 11.3 million separative work units per year (SWU/year) in 1984. 1812 stages were located in five buildings: C-310 with 60 stages, C-331 with 400 stages, C-333 with 480 stages, C-335 with 400 stages and C-337 with 472 stages. Before cessation of uranium enrichment on May 31, 2013, the Paducah facility consumed about 3,000 megawatts of electricity. Power for

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2478-469: The plant. The suit was dismissed in 2003 because a judge ruled that the plant was covered by the Price-Anderson Act . The Department of Energy continues to remediate groundwater contamination. Significant progress has been made in reducing concentrations of TCE in the groundwater by using pump and treat as well as electrical resistance heating. Twenty five out of over 500 inactive facilities at

2537-513: The possible magnitude of claims could bankrupt any electric utility held responsible. Nor could an insurance company offer insurance policies with limits beyond its own resources to pay. Because of these difficulties, it looked like it would be extremely unlikely that electric utilities would want to enter the nuclear power industry. The potential magnitude of worst-case accidents has been the subject of several major studies, such as WASH-740 , WASH-1400 , CRAC-II , and NUREG-1150 . In November 2012,

2596-404: The reactor companies were required to pay their full obligation to the fund. This fund is not paid into unless an accident occurs. However, fund administrators are required to have contingency plans in place to raise funds using loans to the fund, so that claimants may be paid as soon as possible. Actual payments by companies in the event of an accident are capped at $ 18,963,000 per year until either

2655-417: The site have been demolished. Other site facilities are being deactivated and prepared for demolition. In 2019 314 million dollars was allocated towards the cleanup through an act of legislation. One of the largest known (singular) refrigerant banks in the world was still contained until 2020 at the site. Originally 3856 tonnes of R-114 with a GWP 100 of about 9430 according to the 6th IPCC Assessment Report

2714-418: The site. TCE leaked and contaminated groundwater on and off the site. The groundwater is also contaminated with trace amounts of technetium -99, a radioactive fission product; Other site contaminants include polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs). Through normal operations, portions of the plant, primarily process equipment, are contaminated with uranium. In 1988, TCE and trace amounts of technetium-99 were found in

2773-455: The site. The facility has had a positive economic impact on the local economy and continues to be an economic driver for the community. Workers at the plant were represented by the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union (OCAW). Plant operations have contaminated the site over time. The primary contamination of concern is trichloroethylene (TCE), which was a commonly used degreaser at

2832-459: The suit for $ 12,000. In 1998 a lawsuit was brought by employees of the plant against Lockheed Martin, one of the operators of the Paducah plant, relating to falsifying of contamination reports. The Department of Energy later joined this suit. In 1999 a class action lawsuit was brought against the Paducah plant for former and current employees who believed that they had suffered significant medical expenses because of exposure to ionizing radiation at

2891-416: Was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.30 males. The median income for a household in the county was $ 33,865, and the median income for a family was $ 42,513. Males had a median income of $ 36,417 versus $ 22,704 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 19,533. About 11.40% of families and 15.10% of the population were below

2950-412: Was also introduced (which could be surpassed by state law), giving claimants three years after discovering harm in which to make a claim. The alterations were intended to make the process of obtaining funds from reactor companies easier, and to remove discrepancies in different states where different laws applied. The new provisions only applied to incidents where a significant escape of radioactive material

3009-499: Was assumed that once the companies had demonstrated a record of safe operation, they would be able to obtain insurance in the private market. At the same time, Congress encouraged the insurance industry to develop a way that power plant operators could meet their financial protection responsibilities. The insurance industry responded by creating an insurance pool called American Nuclear Insurers (ANI), which today includes 60 U.S. property and casualty insurance companies who represent some of

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3068-549: Was charged to be used for refrigeration. Since 2020 a project started for destruction of this very harmful greenhouse gas. The CO2 equivalent tonnes equals virtually half the allowances for F-gas in the European Union in 2023. It is unclear how much of the R-114 can finally be recovered. McCracken County, Kentucky McCracken County is a county located in the far west portion of U.S. state of Kentucky . As of

3127-402: Was deemed to have occurred (an ENO, extraordinary nuclear occurrence). In 1975, the act was extended for 12 years, up until 1987. The total amount of insurance remained the same, but a provision was added requiring each of the 60 or so reactors then in existence to contribute between $ 2 million and $ 5 million in the event of an uninsured accident. The insurance ceiling for each individual company

3186-513: Was incapable of providing the extent of coverage needed to adequately address the risks of nuclear power. The "amount of insurance required could not be underwritten at the time by any single or joint company effort". A power plant, Shippingport , was eventually constructed, but electric utility executives expressed concerns about limited size of liability coverage offered by the insurance market ($ 60 million). A nuclear accident of privately held nuclear power appeared to be an impossible barrier since

3245-429: Was increased to $ 140 million. These measures eliminated the contribution of the federal government to the insurance pool. However, an explicit commitment was made that in the event of a larger accident, Congress would take whatever actions were necessary to provide full and prompt claims to the public. This included the possibility of additional charges to reactor companies above and beyond the prescribed limits set forth in

3304-620: Was killed in the Battle of Frenchtown in southeastern Michigan during the War of 1812 . The Battle of Paducah occurred during the American Civil War in McCracken County on March 25, 1864. The skirmish between the Union and Confederate troops ended in a Confederate victory. A total of 140 men were killed during the battle. In addition to having an economy influenced by river traffic,

3363-468: Was not required. A total of $ 151 million was paid to cover claims (including legal expenses), all from primary insurance, including $ 71 million for Three Mile Island . Additionally, the Department of Energy paid about $ 65 million to cover claims under liability for its own nuclear operations in the same period. The constitutionality of the Price-Anderson Act was upheld in June 1978 by the Supreme Court in

3422-435: Was opened in 2014. 37°04′N 88°43′W  /  37.06°N 88.72°W  / 37.06; -88.72 Price-Anderson Act The Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act (commonly called the Price-Anderson Act ) is a United States federal law , first passed in 1957 and since renewed several times, which governs liability -related issues for all non- military nuclear facilities constructed in

3481-446: Was provided for government DOE facilities, while small reactors (education and research oriented) were required to obtain $ 250,000 insurance and have a government-backed pool of $ 500 million in the event of accident. This extension provided that all cases resulting from a nuclear accident to be heard in a federal court, rather than local courts. In February 2002, the act was temporarily extended to December 2003. After some debate in 2003,

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