Abstract
After a large property loss, the insured and insurers of a hydroelectric
power plant in North America became embroiled in subrogation to determine
if the event could be characterized as an explosion. The subject
insurance policy provided coverage for explosions, but excluded mechanical
breakdowns. Analysis by Exponent Failure Analysis Associates indicated
that a consistent, cross-disciplinary definition for explosions can
be extracted from published scientific literature, and that this
incident was not an explosion because certain key requirements were
missing during the accident. However, this investigation has highlighted
the necessity for insurance companies and their insureds to better
understand this term and thereby minimize future coverage disputes.
This paper presents an analysis of this incident and describes the
necessary characteristics of an explosion.
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