Radiation exposure liability : the burden of responsibility and compensation in civilian and military nuclear ventures

Since Enrico Fermi first discovered that neutrons could split atoms in 1934, peaceful and militaristic uses of nuclear energy have become prevalent in our society. Two case studies, Three Mile Island and the Nevada Test Site, allow for the examination of radiation injury liability in the context of existing radiation compensation systems. The Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act, which governs civilian nuclear use, and the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which governs compensation for military nuclear weapons tests, are compared to determine the most efficient compensation system. Issues such as determining compensable diseases, establishing rigid criteria, and a heavy burden of proof define the efficiency of each system. A compensation system combining elements of the existing civilian and military compensation systems is proposed, which can be applied to future nuclear ventures such as the Yucca Mountain Repository.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Flores, Jessica (Jessica Alejandro)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Dwight L. Williams.

• Nuclear Science and Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/44850

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/44850