256 



Mr. TiERNAN. Do you have any outside advisory group ? 



Mr. Price. We sure do. We have not only the technical staff of the 

 Commission, but we have an Advisory Committee on Reactor Safe- 

 gards that are independent, and then when we get through, and they 

 get through, there is a public hearing before a licensing board, and 

 that is reviewed by the appeals board, and sometimes the Commis- 

 sioners themselves. 



In addition, in working through these cases, we consult, like on 

 earthquakes, with the Geological Surv^ey group. 



Mr. TiERNAN. Mr. Chairman, I think that was pretty well gone 

 over step by step as to that procedure. 



I w^ould like to request the Commission supply for the record the 

 actual step-by-step procedures. 



Mr. DiNGELL. I think that would be helpful, if you would do so, and 

 without objection, that will be inserted in the record. 



{The information follows :) 



Step by Step Process for Licensing of Power Reactors by the Atomic 

 Energy Commission 

 Introductory Note 



As was pointed out by the Commission's responses to Mr. Tiernan's questions 

 on April 6, before a formal application is made by a utility for a construction 

 permit, the prospective applicant is encouraged to meet with AEC regulatory 

 staff to discuss the overall suitability of the plant site. Such discussions have 

 in the past led to applicants deciding not to build specific plants at specific 

 locations. 



Once an application is submitted, the Commission regulatory staff and ACRS 

 spend from 12-20 months reviewing the utility's application and environmental 

 report and discussing the site and the plant design with him. There frequently 

 are revisions made in the applicant's plans, including the design of the plant, as 

 a result of these discussions. 



The numbers of withdrawals by applicants and denials and suspensions of 

 construction permit or site approval applications have to be considered within the 

 context of the above two features of the licensing process. 



The role of nuclear reactors in the production of electricity is growing rapidly. 

 With this increased use of nuclear power reactors has come greater public interest 

 in, and awareness of, the safeguards to public health and safety which are pro- 

 vided for these nuclear power plants. 



When the atom is split, or "fissioned," in a reactor, it produces energy — heat 

 energy and radiation energy. Positive control of this energy is achieved in a 

 reactor through the design of the facility and by careful operation. By these 

 means, constant care is taken to prevent injury to employees or to the general 

 public. 



Comprehensive safeguards to protect public health and safety are engineered 

 into power reactor plants. These include: a system of controls to regulate the 

 reactivity and rate of energy release in the reactor core where the nuclear 

 fuel elements are placed ; a heat extraction system to convert the thermal energy 

 from the reactor to the generation of electric power ; containment systems 

 designed to prevent the escape of harmful amounts of radioactivity in the event, 

 however remote, of an accident ; and a waste handling system to control the 

 release to the environment of the low-level radioactive effluents produced during 

 normal operation. These systems are checked periodically to assure that they are 

 working properly. 



Protection of health and safety is the primary goal of the Atomic Energy Com- 

 mission's regulatory program. Under this program, the licensed uses of radio- 

 active materials and the construction and operation of licensed nuclear facilities, 

 of which reactors are one type, are regulated by AEC.^ State and local officials 

 are kept informed of AEC licensing actions taken in connection with a power 

 reactor project. 



1 Commission owned power reactors located at non-AEC sites and operated as part of 

 conventional utility systems are not licensed. However, procedures which are parallel to 

 those discussed here are used in the issuance of authorizations for construction and opera- 

 tion of these reactors. 



