PROPOSED CHANGES IN BASIS FOR COOPERATIVE ARRANGEMENT FOR THE LMFBR HEARINGS BEFORE THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON ATOMIC ENERGY NINETY-THIRD CONGRESS FIRST SESSION TO CONSIDER PROPOSED CHANGES IN THE BASIS FOR THE FEBRUARY 28 AND MAY 4, 1973 Printed for the use of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy 20-233 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1973 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Stock Number 5270-02043 JOINT COMMITTEE ON ATOMIC ENERGY MELVIN PRICE, Illinois, Chairman CHET HOLIFIELD, California 'JOHN YOUNG, Texas TENO RONCALIO, Wyoming MIKE MCCORMACK, Washington MANUEL LUJAN, JR., New Mexico HENRY M. JACKSON, Washington JOSEPH M. MONTOYA, New Mexico EDWARD J. BAUSER, Executive Director JACK BRIDGES, Technical Director-Energy Resources J. B. LA GRONE, Congressional Fellow (II) i PROPOSED CHANGES IN THE BASIS FOR COOPERATIVE ARRANGEMENT FOR THE LMFBR DEMONSTRATION PLANT FOREWORD The cooperative arrangement for the Nation's first liquid metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR) demonstration plant was authorized under Section 106 of Public Law 91-273, as amended by Public Law 92-84. Among other things, that legislation requires that the basis for the arrangement or any amendment thereto be submitted to the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy for a period of 45 days, unless a waiver is granted by the Joint Committee. This document includes the record of the public hearings held on February 28 and May 4, 1973 by the Joint Committee to consider proposed changes in the basis for the cooperative arrangement for the design, construction, and operation of the LMFBR demonstration plant. BACKGROUND The basis of the original cooperative arrangement had been approved by the Joint Committee after its submission by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and three days of public hearings held in September 1972. The text of those hearings was published as a Joint Committee print and the considerations and recommendations of the committee approving the original arrangement are set out in the introduction of that document.1 On January 26, 1973, the AEC informed the committee that, in the process of negotiating the definitive contracts for the arrangement, the parties had agreed upon several changes in the basic principles which had been presented to the committee and which were not contemplated by the original Memorandum of Understanding among the parties. The AEC indicated that it was submitting the basis for these amendments to the Joint Committee in accordance with the applicable provisions of the pertinent authorization act. The principal features of the revised arrangement were described in the AEC's revised program justification data arrangement No. 72106 and amendment No. 1 to the Memorandum of Understanding among the AEC, Commonwealth Edison Company (CE), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Project Management Corporation (PMC), and Breeder Reactor Corporation (BRC). The details of the proposed arrangement were set out in unexecuted definitive contracts among the various parties. According to the AEC, the proposed arrangement, among other things, contemplated a "partnership" approach under which PMC, with AEC officials eventually participating on its Board of Directors, would be authorized to manage the project without the need for PMC 1 Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) Demonstration Plant, hearings before the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, Sept. 7, 8, and 12, 1972. |