Atomic Energy Commission

“ The program of the Commission will, of course, be worked out in close collaboration with the military services in conformity with the wish of the Congress, but it is my fervent hope that the military significance of atomic energy will steadily decline. We look to the Commission to foster the development of atomic energy for industrial use and scientific and medical research. In the vigorous and effective development of peaceful uses of atomic energy rests our hope that this new force may ultimately be turned into a blessing for all nations. ”

“ Atomic Energy Commission abolished and all functions transferred to Administrator of Energy Research and Development Administration (unless otherwise specifically provided) by section 5814 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. ”

“ Atomic energy was so clearly fraught with serious implications that in 1946 the Congress of the United States placed it entirely under public control expressed as the Atomic Energy Commission. There is a class of robot machinery which has already reached the stage of acute public concern: guided missiles and automatic fire-control. ”

“ We deal here with a radical change in the manner in which our entire nation produces electricity. In many respects, no doubt, this new technique of producing electricity will be less harmful to the environment than present fossil fuel generating plants. But it is evident that the program presents unique and unprecedented environmental hazards. The Commission itself concedes it is expected that by the year 2000 some 600,000 cubic feet of high-level concentrated radioactive wastes will have been generated. ”

“ Member States shall notify the Commission, within a period of eighteen months from the date of its filing, of the existence of any unpublished application for a patent or utility model which appears prima facie to them to deal with a subject that, without being of a specifically nuclear nature, is directly connected with and essential to the development of nuclear energy within the Community. ”

“ After requesting the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee, the Commission may, within the framework of the Joint Nuclear Research Centre, set up schools for training specialists, particularly in prospecting for ores, producing nuclear materials of a high degree of purity, processing irradiated fuels, in atomic engineering, health protection and the production and use of radioactive isotopes. ”

“ One especially noteworthy innovation was the creation of the Joint House-Senate Atomic Energy Committee, which is credited by many with the development of our nuclear deterrent capability and was also criticized for wielding too much power relative to the executive branch. ”

“ The right of the Community itself to take action, in accordance with general provisions in force, against the author of the damage shall not be affected.
Article 29 Any agreement or contract for the purpose of exchanging scientific or industrial information on nuclear matters between a Member State, person or enterprise and any third country, international organisation or national of a third country shall, if it requires on either part the signature of a State exercising its sovereignty, be concluded by the Commission. ”

“ Article 40 In order to stimulate action by persons and undertakings and to facilitate coordinated development of their investment in the nuclear field, the Commission shall periodically publish illustrative programmes indicating in particular nuclear energy production targets and all the types of investment required for their attainment. ”

“ Certainly NEPA does not require the Commission to forecast the deployment and effects of LMFBR power reactors in the year 2000 in the same detail or with the same degree of accuracy as another agency might have to forecast the increased traffic congestion likely to be caused by a proposed highway. Conversely, the Commission may well be expected to devote more resources toward preparation of an impact statement for its multi-billion-dollar program than it would for a project involving a federal investment many times smaller. ”

“ The Commission itself admits that one of the results of this commitment has been to slow down development of other new technologies, such as alternative breeder reactor concepts, which would also require a large investment to move from the stage of technical and theoretical research into a stage of commercial feasibility. [77]
Finally, we cannot ignore the fact that the anticipated effects of the LMFBR program on the environment are among the most significant, and most controversial, of all federal programs. ”

“ General agreement has developed among most of the key energy community leaders in the cognizant agencies of the Government, in the Congress and in the nuclear community that the breeder reactor is the major long- term solution to the energy supply and related environmental problems. ”

“ Only a few, relatively rare, naturally occurring substances -- primarily Uranium-235 -- can maintain the nuclear fission chain reaction necessary for operation of these [p1083] reactors. There are thus severe constraints on the long run potential of nuclear energy for generating electricity unless new nuclear fuel is "artificially" produced. ”

“ Article 106 Member States which, before 1 January 1958 or, for acceding States, before the date of their accession, have concluded agreements with third States providing for cooperation in the field of nuclear energy shall be required to undertake jointly with the Commission the necessary negotiations with these third States in order to ensure that the rights and obligations arising out of such agreements shall as far as possible be assumed by the Community. ”

“ But for countries with full access to the complete nuclear fuel cycle, no technical separation really exists. Not all states operate the necessary clear-cut administrative separation of civilian and military access. Cooperation is needed also among suppliers and buyers of civilian nuclear facilities and materials and the International Atomic Energy Agency, in order to provide credible safeguards aqainst the diversion of civilian reactor programmes to military purposes, especially in countries that do not open all their nuclear programmes to IAEA inspection. ”

“ Article 38 The Commission shall make recommendations to Member States regarding the level of radioactivity in the atmosphere, water or soil.
The Commission shall, in case of urgency, issue a directive requiring the Member State concerned to take, within a period fixed by the Commission, all measures necessary to prevent the basic standards from being exceeded and to ensure observance of any applicable provisions. ”

“ To demonstrate once again our unalterable purpose to make of the atom a peaceful servant of humanity, I shortly shall ask the Congress to authorize full United States participation in the International Atomic Energy Agency. ”

“ Plans for other nuclear-powered desalting projects around the world are being discussed by the United States government, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the governments of many other nations. ”

“ The United States has taken the lead in the endeavor to put atomic energy under effective international control. We seek no monopoly for ourselves or for any group of nations. We ask only that there be safeguards sufficient to insure that no nation will be able to use this power for military purposes. ”

“ Following the end of World War II a vigorous controversy developed as to whether atomic energy development in the United States should continue under military control or be transferred to civilian control. ”

“ For international rules and laws to be effective, they must be enforced. We must ensure that the International Atomic Energy Agency is fully capable of exposing and reporting banned nuclear activity. Every nation should sign what is called the Additional Protocol, which would allow the IAEA to make broader inspections of nuclear sites. ”

“ American industry, universities, and research organizations also are engaged in widespread atomic energy activities of their own, subject only to such government regulations as are needed to protect national security and public health and safety. ”

“ For example, the largest atomic electric power plants now in operation in this country are privately owned, as are numerous small atomic reactors used for research. At the end of 1962 some 7000 firms, institutions or individuals in the United States held federal or state licenses giving them permission to use radioisotopes. The number of persons employed in atomic energy work in the United States is estimated to be about 140,000, of which only 8000 work for the Federal Government. ”

“ The U. S. is not alone in its use of nuclear energy as a tool of science. The United Kingdom has carried out radiological studies of the marine environment for many years, particularly concentrating on the effects of radionuclides from nuclear power plants on the sea immediately contiguous to the British Isles. Both the European Atomic Energy Community and the International Atomic Energy Agency also encouraged marine radiological studies. ”

“ The United States knows that if the fearful trend of atomic military build up can be reversed, this greatest of destructive forces can be developed into a great boon, for the benefit of all mankind.
The United States knows that peaceful power from atomic energy is no dream of the future. That capability, already proved, is here--now--today. ”

“ The more important responsibility of this Atomic Energy Agency would be to devise methods where by this fissionable material would be allocated to serve the peaceful pursuits of mankind. Experts would be mobilized to apply atomic energy to the needs of agriculture, medicine, and other peaceful activities. ”

“ Nuclear electric power is approaching the point where it will be economically competitive with power from hydroelectric plants or those burning coal, oil, or gas as fuels. Improvements in nuclear power technology are rapidly being made, and it is now widely predicted that before the end of this century most new electric power plants will be nuclear. ”

“ In order to utilize the skill, technical know-how, knowledge and experience of American industry, the Government has, since the inception of the atomic energy program, generally chosen private companies to conduct the various and sundry activities involved in the undertaking, including the management and operation of Atomic Energy plants. ”

“ The Atomic Energy Agency could be made responsible for the impounding, storage, and protection of the contributed fissionable and other materials. The ingenuity of our scientists will provide special safe conditions under which such a bank of fissionable material can be made essentially immune to surprise seizure. ”

“ In western Europe and North America, which today have almost 75 per cent of current world capacity, nuclear provides about one-third of the energy that was forecast for it 10 years ago. Apart from Fance, Japan, the USSR, and several other East European countries that have decided to continue with their nuclear programmes, ordering, construction, and licensing prospects for new reactors in many other countries look poor. ”

“ In politics the atomic nucleus has entered as a promise and as a menace—not as a fact on which we can build and with which we can reckon.
Some technical predictions seem safe:
Nuclear energy will not render our older power plants obsolete in the near future. But nuclear energy will make it 169 possible to maintain the pace—even the acceleration—of the industrial revolution. It will be possible to produce all the energy we need at a moderate cost. Furthermore—and this is the important point—this energy will be available at any place on the globe at a cost which is fairly uniform. ”