FUKUSHIMA AND NUCLEAR LIABILITIES

That this House expresses its concern and support for the 100,000 Japanese citizens displaced from their homes, businesses and communities following their forcible evacuation in the wake of the serious accident at the Daiichi nuclear power plant at Fukushima on 11 March 2011; notes that the most recent estimate of the real cost of damages to citizens and businesses is $260 billion, and that the overall costs of the Fukushima accident, including compensation and decommissioning the Daiichi plant's six reactors, have been projected to reach up to $650 billion; believes that Government plans to increase liability for damages on UK nuclear power operators to just 1.2 billion is manifestly inadequate in light of the contemporary Fukushima experience; and calls on the Government to require all operators of any new nuclear power plants to secure full private insurance cover sufficient to compensate to the levels demonstrated are required from the Fukushima experience prior to any operating licence being issued.