75-20-1203. Additional requirements for issuance of a certificate for the siting of a nuclear facility. (1) The board may not issue a certificate to construct a nuclear facility unless it finds that:

(a) no legal limits exist regarding the rights of a person or group of persons to bring suit for and recover full and just compensation from the designers, manufacturers, distributors, owners, and/or operators of a nuclear facility for damages resulting from the existence or operation of the facility; and further, that no legal limits exist regarding the total compensation which may be required from the designers, manufacturers, distributors, owners, and/or operators of a nuclear facility for damages resulting from the existence or operation of such facility;

(b) the effectiveness of all safety systems, including but not limited to the emergency core cooling systems, of such nuclear facility has been demonstrated, to the satisfaction of the board, by the comprehensive laboratory testing of substantially similar physical systems in actual operation;

(c) the radioactive materials from such nuclear facilities can be contained with no reasonable chance, as determined by the board, of intentional or unintentional escape or diversion of such materials into the natural environment in such manner as to cause substantial or long-term harm or hazard to present or future generations due to imperfect storage technologies, earthquakes or other acts of God, theft, sabotage, acts of war or other social instabilities, or whatever other causes the board may deem to be reasonably possible, at any time during which such materials remain a radiological hazard; and

(d) the owner of such nuclear facility has posted with the board a bond totaling not less than 30% of the total capital cost of the facility, as estimated by the board, to pay for the decommissioning of the facility and the decontamination of any area contaminated with radioactive materials due to the existence or operation of the facility in the event the owner fails to pay the full costs of such decommissioning and decontamination. Excess bond, if any, shall be refunded to the owner upon demonstration, to the satisfaction of the board, that the site and environs of the facility pose no radiological danger to present or future generations and that whatever other conditions the board may deem reasonable have been met.

(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed as relieving the owner of a nuclear facility from full financial responsibility for the decommissioning of such facility and decontamination of any area contaminated with radioactive materials as a result of the existence or operation of such facility at any time during which such materials remain a radiological hazard.

History: En. Sec. 4, I.M. 80, app. Nov. 7, 1978.