The Nation - News from May 22, 1986

A compromise bill that would make the nuclear power industry liable for up to $6.5 billion in damages from accidents won approval from the House Interior Committee, with many reluctant supporters saying they would try to make changes on the floor. The bill, a renewal of the Price-Anderson nuclear insurance act of 1957, represented a middle ground between the $2-billion liability ceiling sought by the nuclear industry and the $8-billion level favored by committee chairman Morris Udall (D-Ariz). The bill would require utilities to carry $200-million insurance on each of their nuclear plants.