NRI and its predecessor, the British Insurance (Atomic Energy) Committee (BIAEC), have been supporting Imperial College London with nuclear insurance for many years. Our first policy was created in 1958, just two years after BIAEC’s formation, which coincided with the commercial operation of Calder Hall, the first civil nuclear power plant in the UK in 1956.
The first policies for Imperial covered a subcritical nuclear assembly in South Kensington and provided a separate indemnity of £100,000 for nuclear liability and property damage. In 1964, BIAEC then provided insurance for Imperial’s research reactor that had been built in Silwood Park, Ascot, including a £5m indemnity. At the end of March 2022, Imperial surrendered its site licence after fully decommissioning the reactor, and NRI has now ceased providing nuclear insurance for Imperial. The indemnity of the last liability policy was €70m.
It has been an honour to continuously insure Imperial College London for the past 64 years and NRI is pleased that Imperial will remain active in the field of nuclear engineering, promoting and co-ordinating nuclear energy research in collaboration with key external partners.
