opment and use and regulation of byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials;

"(4) to establish procedures and criteria for discontinuance of certain of the Commission's regulatory responsibilities with respect to byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials, and the assumption thereof by the States;

"(5) to provide for coordination of the development of radiation standards for the guidance of Federal agencies and cooperation with the States; and

"(6) to recognize that, as the States improve their capabilities to regulate effectively such materials, additional legislation may be desirable.

"b. Except as provided in subsection c., the Commission is authorized to enter into agreements with the Governor of any State providing for discontinuance of the regulatory authority of the Commission under chapters 6, 7, and 8, and section 161 of this Act, with respect to any one or more of the following materials within the State"(1) byproduct materials;

"(2) source materials;

"(3) special nuclear materials in quantities not sufficient to form a critical mass.

During the duration of such an agreement it is recognized that the State shall have authority to regulate the materials covered by the agreement for the protection of the public health and safety from radiation hazards.

"c. No agreement entered into pursuant to subsection b. shall provide for discontinuance of any authority and the Commission shall retain authority and responsibility with respect to regulation of—

"(1) the construction and operation of any production or utilization facility;

"(2) the export from or import into the United States of byproduct, source, or special nuclear material, or of any production or utilization facility;

"(3) the disposal into the ocean or sea of byproduct, source, or special nuclear waste materials as defined in regulations or orders of the Commission;

"(4) the disposal of such other byproduct, source, or special nuclear material, as the Commission determines by regulation or order should, because of the hazards or potential hazards thereof, not be so disposed of without a license from the Commission. Notwithstanding any agreement between the Commission and any State pursuant to subsection b., the Commission is authorized by rule, regulation, or order to require that the manufacturer, processor, or producer of any equipment, device, commodity, or other product containing source, byproduct, or special nuclear material shall not transfer possession or control of such product except pursuant to a license issued by the Commission.

"d. The Commission shall enter into an agreement under subsection b. of this section with any State if

"(1) The Governor of that State certifies that the State has a program for the control of radiation hazards adequate to protect the public health and safety with respect to the materials within the State covered by the proposed agreement, and that the

State desires to assume regulatory responsibility for such materials; and

"(2) the Commission finds that the State program is compatible with the Commission's program for the regulation of such materials, and that the State program is adequate to protect the public health and safety with respect to the materials covered by the proposed agreement.

"e. (1) Before any agreement under subsection b. is signed by the Commission, the terms of the proposed agreement and of proposed exemptions pursuant to subsection f. shall be published once each week for four consecutive weeks in the Federal Register; and such opportunity for comment by interested persons on the proposed agreement and exemptions shall be allowed as the Commission determines by regulation or order to be appropriate.

"(2) Each proposed agreement shall include the proposed effective date of such proposed agreement or exemptions. The agreement and exemptions shall be published in the Federal Register within thirty days after signature by the Commission and the Governor.

"f. The Commission is authorized and directed, by regulation or order, to grant such exemptions from the licensing requirements contained in chapters 6, 7, and 8, and from its regulations applicable to licensees as the Commission finds necessary or appropriate to carry out any agreement entered into pursuant to subsection b. of this section.

"g. The Commission is authorized and directed to cooperate with the States in the formulation of standards for protection agains hazards of radiation to assure that State and Commission programs for protection against hazards of radiation will be coordinated and compatible.

"h. There is hereby established a Federal Radiation Council, consisting of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, or their designees, and such other members as shall be appointed by the President. The Council shall consult qualified scientists and experts in radiation matters, including the President of the National Academy of Sciences, the Chairman of the National Committee on Radiation Protection and Measurement, and qualified experts in the field of biology and medicine and in the field of health physics. The Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, or his designee, is authorized to attend meetings, participate in the deliberations of, and to advise the Council. The Chairman of the Council shall be designated by the President, from time to time, from among the members of the Council. The Council shall advise the President with respect to radiation matters, directly or indirectly affecting health, including guidance for all Federal agencies in the formulation of radiation standards and in the establishment and execution of programs of cooperation with States. The Council shall also perform such other functions as the President may assign to it by Executive order.

"i. The Commission in carrying out its licensing and regulatory responsibilities under this Act is authorized to enter into agreements with any State, or group of States, to perform inspections or other functions on a cooperative basis as the Commission deems appropriate. The Commission is also authorized to provide training, with or with

out charge, to employees of, and such other assistance to, any State or political subdivision thereof or group of States as the Commission deems appropriate. Any such provision or assistance by the Commission shall take into account the additional expenses that may be incurred by a State as a consequence of the State's entering into an agreement with the Commission pursuant to subsection b.

"j. The Commission, upon its own initiative after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing to the State with which an agreement under subsection b. has become effective, or upon request of the Governor of such State, may terminate or suspend its agreement with the State and reassert the licensing and regulatory authority vested in it under this Act, if the Commission finds that such termination or suspension is required to protect the public health and safety.

"k. Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the authority of any State or local agency to regulate activities for purposes other than protection against radiation hazards.

"1. With respect to each application for Commission license authorizing an activity as to which the Commission's authority is continued pursuant to subsection c., the Commission shall give prompt notice to the State or States in which the activity shall be conducted of the filing of the license application; and shall afford reasonable opportunity for State representatives to offer evidence, interrogate witnesses, and advise the Commission as to the application without requiring such representatives to take a position for or against the granting of the application.

"m. No agreement entered into under subsection b., and no exemption granted pursuant to subsection f., shall affect the authority of the Commission under subsection 161 b. or i. to issue rules, regulations, or orders to protect the common defense and security, to protect restricted data or to guard against the loss or diversion of special nuclear material. For purposes of subsection 161i., activities covered by exemptions granted pursuant to subsection f. shall be deemed to constitute activities authorized pursuant to this Act; and special nuclear material acquired by any person pursuant to such an exemption shall be deemed to have been acquired pursuant to section 53.

"n. As used in this section, the term 'State' means any State, Territory, or possession of the United States, the Canal Zone, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia."

APPENDIX 2

EXTRACTS FROM COMMITTEE REPORTS ON 1957 AMENDMENTS TO THE ATOMIC ENERGY ACT

As indicated in the introduction to volume I, the Congress, in August 1957, on the recommendation of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, amended the Atomic Energy Act to require a public hearing on applications for construction of major facilities such as power and test reactors. The amendments also established the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) as a statutory committee, and required a public report by the ACRS on all applications subject to the public hearing requirement. Extracts from the committee reports accompanying those amendments are reproduced in this appendix.

*

4

3

REACTOR SAFEGUARDS

"The provisions of S. 1684 and H.R. 6604 were added to the indemnity bill since it was felt that the Congress should not only try to give financial protection to innocent members of the public who might suffer in the unexpected case of a runaway reactor, but that the Congress should also provide all possible statutory requirements for assuring that reactors should be as safe as possible. A study of the problems of the Commission-licensed operations was made by the staff of the Joint Committee and published in April 1957, as a Joint Committee print entitled 'A Study of AEC Procedures and Organization and the Licensing of Reactor Facilities.'

"This study summarized the facility license procedures of the AEC and the role of the Committee on Reactor Safeguards in the evaluation of the hazards in reactor construction and operation. While the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 has over 18 references to health and safety requirements, there was no body specifically established in the act whose primary responsibility would be to study and advise on the health and safety aspects of licensed operations. The Joint Committee deemed it desirable to establish formally such a body as an advisory committee to assist the Commission with respect to those facilities where the hazard is likely to be the greatest. The Commission has had a Committee on Reactor Safeguards as a committee, though it is not specifically established by the act. This Committee has examined Commission and licensee reactors and has had a very good record.

1 Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, sec. 189 (a), 42 U.S.C. 2239 (a).

2 Id., sec. 29, 42 U.S.C. 2039.

3 Id., sec. 182 (b), 42 U.S.C. 2232 (b).

H. Rept. 435, S. Rept. 296, 85th Cong., 1st sess.

"Having established the Committee under the bill, it was thought that its functions would be best served if its reports should be made public, and if the facilities of the type on which its report were required should be licensed only after a public hearing.

"The Joint Committee concluded that full, free, and frank discussion in public of the hazards involved in any particular reactor would seem to be the most certain way of assuring that the reactors will indeed be safe and that the public will be fully apprised of this fact. "The Joint Committee therefore added as sections 4, 5, and 6 of the indemnity bill the provisions of S. 1684 and H. R. 6604, bills, previously introduced by Senator Anderson and Mr. Durham to establish the Committee, to require that its reports be made public and that hearings be held on certain reactor applications.

"Section 5 of the act adds a new section 29 to the Atomic Energy Act to formally establish a Committee on Reactor Safeguards. There are to be a maximum of 15 members, serving for 4-year terms. This Committee is to review license applications and to advise the Commission with respect to the hazards involved at any facility.

"The main reason for making this Committee a statutory committee was to insure that any features of new reactors would be as safe as possible. This subject was felt to be so important as to require a committee established by statute.

"Another reason prompting the insertion of the provision in the bill was the strong reliance placed by the insurance companies on the continuance of the Commission safety programs, including the continuance of some body similar to the present Reactor Safeguard Committee. One of the main reasons for the sources of the Commission's reactor safety activities in the past have been the close scrutiny of AEC-built reactors and great prestige of its present Reactor Safeguards Committee. The Joint Committee desired this same type of scrutiny and prestige to be maintained with respect to privately built power and testing reactors.

"Section 6 requires the Committee on Safeguards, as part of the administrative procedures in chapter 16 of the act, to review the applications for licenses for those facilities which are most likely to affect the public. These facilities at the moment are those facilities licensed under section 103 (those facilities which have been found to be of practical value for industrial or commercial purposes), those facilities under 104 b (those facilities which are involved in the conduct of research and development activities to demonstrate the practical value of a type of facilities for industrial or commercial purposes), and testing facilities licensed under section 104 c (research faciilties which have an unusually high degree of possible hazard to the public). The Commission is also authorized to refer any other application under section 104, for even medical and research facilities, to the committee if it should appear to be one in which the public would have an unusual interest. The report of the committee is to be made public so that all concerned may be apprised of the safety or possible hazards of the facility. It is the belief of the Joint Committee that when the public is adequately and accurately informed that it will be in a better position to accept the construction of any reactors.