Introduction

Nuclear utility risk managers must decide how much property insurance to purchase. This decision is often triggered by increases in the aggregate level of insurance, labor costs, radioactive waste burial costs, or direction from upper management. In deciding the appropriate coverage level, the risk manager must analyze these diverse elements together with policy payout and structure, plant-specific accident behavior, plant design modifications, et cetera. Since 1989, ABZ, Incorporated has assisted nuclear utility risk managers in deciding how much nuclear property insurance to purchase. With input from the utility, ABZ has provided risk managers with a rational basis for deciding the best level of coverage. Such a comprehensive analysis, however, takes considerable effort and time.

Severe Accident Cost Analysis System (SACAS)

To reduce the cost of such analyses, ABZ now provides SACAS. SACAS combines ABZ's experience in analyzing nuclear plant risk with state-of-art "expert system" technology to provide a PC-based tool to assist utility risk managers in making nuclear property insurance decisions. SACAS provides the utility risk manager with a cost-effective method for analyzing the costs and property insurance claims resulting from a severe reactor accident at a nuclear power plant.

SACAS analyzes costs associated with stabilization and decontamination, cost of damaged property, costs related to the asset loss of undamaged property, and the shortfall in the utility's decommissioning trust fund due to the premature shutdown of the facility.

SACAS is a "rule-based" expert system. The SACAS rules are the culmination of over seven years work with ABZ's clients in the risk management community. SACAS uses these rules to evaluate plant-specific data to provide the risk manager with a basis for determining the amount of nuclear property insurance to purchase. For utilities with more than one nuclear power plant, SACAS can maintain a database for each plant analyzed. With implementation of SACAS, the risk manager can reevaluate the property damage coverage whenever changes occur in the physical plant, the financial environment (e.g., assumed or actual inflation, labor rates, radioactive waste burial costs, et cetera), nuclear insurance policies, or corporate philosophy toward risk.

SACAS is menu-driven. The user requires very little training to generate useful results. At any point in the program, the user can press the F1 key and a text screen will appear explaining the program functions. ABZ also provides a manual which includes step-by-step operating instructions and a description of the SACAS program.

Conclusions

SACAS provides the risk manager with a cost-effective and timely method for determining how much nuclear property insurance to purchase. SACAS benefits the risk manager and the utility by providing a rational basis for deciding how much nuclear property insurance is appropriate.