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HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



grown increasingly wary of rapid development of nuclear fission plants until additional 

 steps arc taken to address the safety questions that became increasingly evident as a 

 result of that incident. 



These were comments, however, not representing most of the 

 committee members, who remained strongly supportive of nuclear 

 fission as an important factor in the Nation's energy future. 



Wydler epitomized this view when he stated in mid-1979 that one 

 of the committee's greatest contributions had been to help stabilize 

 public opinion with reference to nuclear policy. He noted: 



The accident at Three Mile Island was a severe blow to the use of nuclear power 

 to generate electric power in this country. The national hysteria that followed, 

 fostered to a large extent by incomplete and, frankly, irresponsible media coverage of 

 the event, was building to the point where many perfectly safe nuclear facilities would 

 have been shut down. Additional nuclear projects, only on the drawing board, would 

 have been scrapped. I feel that the debate our committee engaged in and the reasoned, 

 responsible posture of most of our Members did much to stabilize the situation and 

 introduce rationality to the controversy. The debate is by no means over, but par- 

 tially due to our efforts, the atmosphere is calmer, especially in the Congress. 



Yet the issue was unlike many of the earlier arguments which had 

 occupied the committee in its past efforts to search for the truth. Facts 

 were assembled, digested, and reiterated. But very few minds were 

 really changed. The critics of nuclear power on the committee felt 

 that their support throughout the country had been materially 

 strengthened since the Three Mile Island accident. 



View of the fast flux test facility on the Department of Energy's Hanford site, 7 miles 

 north of Richland, Wash. The FFTF will test breeder reactor fuels and materials. The Science 

 Committee authorized the project, at a construction cost of $647 million. 



