It's not just the direct cleanup costs - the number goes up extremely hard if you also attempt to account for externalized costs that are rarely grouped together:
- loss of life and the economic productivity of people who died early (not just the liquidators, but also everyone who got radiation damage!)
- loss of sellability of goods - to this day, Bavarian shroom collectors and hunters have to check fungi or wild animals for radiation, and in particularly bad years up to 70% of wild pigs have to be discarded due to irradiation [1]. That's an economic loss for the hunters and for all subsequent economic activities (butchers, restaurants).
- healthcare cost associated with dealing with the fallout - cancers are the most expensive illnesses known to mankind
- loss of quality of life in those who were displaced by the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters, additionally also the cost of relocating and the loss of opportunities, social networks etc. caused by the relocating
- loss of economic potential that could have been realized in the area around Chernobyl, had it not been contaminated
But are these the kinds of costs that are accounted for by an insurer? Have local hunters/butchers/restaurants managed to get compensation for loss of revenue?
Also, these costs seem specific to a melt-down. Fukushima wasn't just poorly insured, it failed to heed studies warning about its location.
- loss of life and the economic productivity of people who died early (not just the liquidators, but also everyone who got radiation damage!)
- loss of sellability of goods - to this day, Bavarian shroom collectors and hunters have to check fungi or wild animals for radiation, and in particularly bad years up to 70% of wild pigs have to be discarded due to irradiation [1]. That's an economic loss for the hunters and for all subsequent economic activities (butchers, restaurants).
- healthcare cost associated with dealing with the fallout - cancers are the most expensive illnesses known to mankind
- loss of quality of life in those who were displaced by the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters, additionally also the cost of relocating and the loss of opportunities, social networks etc. caused by the relocating
- loss of economic potential that could have been realized in the area around Chernobyl, had it not been contaminated
[1] https://www.welt.de/wissenschaft/article230648425/35-Jahre-n...