Federal Alert— new legislation
C&EN Talks With . . . NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION'S
This C&EN report covers new legislation introduced between June 27 and July 27. Senate and House bills are listed under areas of interest by bill number, primary sponsor, and the committee to which the bill has been referred.
Marcus A. Rowden The chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has been likened to the captain of a new ship. A crew and all the basic machinery are there, but it takes a few shakedown cruises to weld crew and machinery into an effective operating unit. The captain also must establish procedural precedents and make the ship's owners aware of its presence. All these things are accomplished only by good performance. Marcus A. Rowden, recently appointed head of NRC, believes that the Energy Reorganization Act, which replaced the old Atomic Energy Commission with the Energy Research & Development Administration and NRC, was much more than an organizational reshuffle. It signaled, he says, the maturity of the atomic energy business. Nuclear technology remains a principal concern, but with the formation of NRC, social, legal, and regulatory concerns have become coequal with it. Achieving progress in nuclear technology doesn't worry Rowden nearly as much as the companion effort of placing before the public the information required for basic decisions that are necessary for nuclear energy to achieve its potential benefits. The technology is well in hand, but nuclear energy is still not acceptable to some people—primarily, he believes, because of ignorance. One of the biggest immediate problems facing Rowden and NRC is regulating nuclear waste management. NRC has the responsibility for ensuring that waste management is safe, workable, and environmentally sound. Environmental safety may be the most visible of the nuclear waste problems, but there are others, too. Rowden says that the core legislation NRC now us.es is very strong on the subject of environmental impact statements, which NRC must provide. However, NRC also is charged with establishing performance goals for an industry that is just getting off the ground. The means for implementing these goals also must be specified. This is where Rowden and the NRC crew run into the problem of establishing precedents. The core legislation, he says, must be "fleshed out" with detailed operating procedures that will be comprehensive but not encumbering. There is a philosophical problem with regulating the nuclear industry, particularly in the matter of managing nuclear wastes. Rowden is acutely aware that social institutions, on the one hand, seldom last for more than a few centuries. Nuclear wastes, on the other hand, last much longer, and therein lies the rub. It is a very tricky thing to devise a regulatory program that will be more stable than the society that spawned it. But the prospect of doing just that may yield an unexpected benefit of reinforcing
SENATE Energy. S. 3680—Nelson (D.-Wis.). Directs Energy Research & Development Administration to prepare series of projections on consequences of phaseout or reduction in nuclear power development; referred to Interior & Insular Affairs.
Social institutions seldom last more than a few centuries; nuclear wastes last much longer social stability. Rowden doesn't suggest that a nuclear fear will ensure social stability by default. Rather, he says, it's a matter of realizing that what a society does always has long-term effects. In the case of nuclear power, the example is uniquely vivid and the term very long indeed. In fulfilling its legal responsibilities NRC depends on good information. This dependence is necessary, says Rowden, not only for technical reasons, but for the public and its agencies to make reasonable decisions. At the outset it appears that the nuclear information base will never be adequate. An obvious reason is that it will take thousands of years, for example, to fully document case histories for the management of particular wastes. But, Rowden believes, if it is undesirable to progress with less than perfect information, such a situation is neither historically unusual nor should it stop nuclear development. Rowden believes that under the present circumstances there are none of the traditional incentives for the nuclear industry to engage in waste disposal. It is not now and probably never will be profitable in the usual sense. Even so, waste disposal is an enduring problem and that is why the federal government and international agencies are necessarily involved in handling the problem. Though the nuclear horizons may be very distant, Rowden is convinced that the U.S. must do something now to establish a consistent and effective regulatory system. A workable system must be instituted even if it isn't the ultimate system. The only virtue in doing nothing is that some unforeseen mistakes may be avoided. But the alternative, Rowden says, is even worse. At the same time, any technical solution to nuclear problems that is socially unacceptable must never be allowed. Rowden is very aware of the alternatives and is confident that, despite NRC's problems, an acceptable regulatory system will emerge. D
Materials. S. 3637—Moss (D.-Utah). Establishes 14-member National Materials Policy Board to promote and support new national R&D program on identification, creation, utilization of new materials, materials substitutes, substitute processes; referred to Aeronautical & Space Sciences; Agriculture & Forestry; Armed Services; Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs; Commerce; Foreign Relations; Government Operations; Interior & Insular Affairs; Judiciary; Labor & Public Welfare; Public Works. HOUSE Antitrust. H.R. 14580—Rodino (D.-NJ.). Requires that Justice Department be given 30 days' advance notice when companies having annual sales or assets in excess of $100 million merge with firms having $10 million or more in assets; referred to Judiciary. Business. H.R. 14819—Ottinger (D.-N.Y.). Requires disclosure to Department of Commerce of names, locations, total assets, income, taxes paid, and employment data of all foreign affiliates and branches of U.S. firms; referred to International Relations. Energy. H.R. 14696—O'Neill (D.-Mass.). Omnibus energy conservation bill that establishes energy conservation R&D and demonstration institutes, authorizes federal R&D program designed to promote efficiency of energy use; referred to Banking, Currency & Housing; Interstate & Foreign Commerce; Science & Technology. Environment. H.R. 14808—Bowen (D.Miss.). Abolishes Environmental Protection Agency; referred to Government Operations. Health. H.R. 14744—Carter (R.-Ky.). Provides that health care personnel and facilities shall not be held liable for damages resulting from participation in swine flu immunization program; referred to Interstate & Foreign Commerce. Patents. H.R. 14632—Wiggins (R.-Calif.). Permits any person at any time during life of a patent to challenge its validity on grounds of any earlier patent or publication not considered by examiner when patent was granted; referred to Judiciary. Solid waste. H.R. 14638—Drinan (D.-Mass.). Provides for R&D program on disposal of sludge, reclamation of water damaged by sludge and sewage; regulates disposal of hazardous sludge; referred to Science & Technology.
Aug. 9, 1976 C&EN
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