thousands of people are displaced and that there are very large areas of land that e rendered uninhabibitable fo tens to hundreds of years, , th- it gets to ththe point where it- yoyou know, the estimatition of thee damageses and the costs toe government become inestimable, incncalculable. >> nuclear accidents are costly. some experts say an extreme event here could cost as much as $500 billion or more. >> my colleagues and i did a number of estimates based on the spent fuel catching f fire at r reactors, and some of these estimates s went into o the huns oof billions of dollars. >> so why is the liability y cap for insurarance only $12.6 billn if the acactual cosost of a disr could be far greater? >>>> now, clearly aftfter fukus, $12 billllion doesn't lolook lie nearlrly enough. >> raising the cap would be costly. the nuclear industry says $12.6 billion is enough because nucuclear power is safe and the probably of a major accident low. >> i think that the amomount of covererage is a adequate. we hae seen that the three mile island accident, the amount was far below the amount of coverage pro