What’s New: In Brief (January 25, 2007)

The Canadian government has picked a substantial amount of the costs associated with insuring the country’s nuclear facilities against terrorist attack, according to the Halifax newspaper, The ChronicleHerald.
“The Nuclear Liability Act, passed in 1976, limits liability for damages caused by a nuclear accident to $75 million,” the paper reports online. “It is widely considered to be out of date. The international standard is a liability of $600 million.”
The newspaper posting relies on documents it says were obtained by Greenpeace under the access-to-information law.
The ChronicleHerald article sources a 2004 briefing note prepared within Natural Resources Canada, which describes the $75 million limit as by far the lowest among OECD nuclear countries.
According to the newspaper, the 2004 briefing note says revisions to the Nuclear Liability Act had been discussed at that time with the nuclear industry, but not with municipalities, environmental groups and the general public.

ICBC has invested in 2006 approximately Cdn$7.5 million in funding for studies and improvements to roads across the province.
The funds are part of ICBC’s Road Improvement Program, which works in partnership with municipalities and the provincial Ministry of Transportation.
“When B.C. motorists get behind the wheel, we want to make sure they get to where they’re going safely,” B.C. solicitor general John Les says in a press release. “Better roads mean fewer crashes, injuries and deaths.”
ICBC further notes: “All road improvement investments are assessed to ensure they make B.C. roads safer for all users and translate into lower claims costs for the ICBC policyholders.”
ICBC cites an independent evaluation of the ICBC Road Improvement Program, which found that for every dollar ICBC invested, ICBC’s policyholders saved at least three dollars in claims costs.
“Road improvements make business sense,” John Pump, ICBC manager of road improvement strategies, says. “Reduced crashes save ICBC customers money through lower claims costs, which helps to keep insurance rates low and stable.”