Nuclear regulation: an historical perspective

Journal Article · Thu Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1981 · Nat. Resour. J.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5207594

Quirk, J ^[1]; Terasawa, K

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1. California Inst. of Tech., Pasadena

Nuclear power has gone through a boom and bust cycle over the past 20 years, the licensing-construction process has stretched out to 12 years or more per reactor, capital and fuel costs have skyrocketed, and there have been some near misses so far as accidents are concerned. The author notes that the AEC/NRC has played a role in all of these events, but that there are other factors also at work. Bottlenecks in supplying industries matched licensing bottlenecks in the pre-1972 period, and since 1974, delays have been utility induced. The AEC/NRC has fought to keep safety issues at the forefront of the nuclear regulatory process, even when this involved court battles and when it involved added costs to reactors. The author concludes that while working in a controversial area, with large amounts of money at stake, the AEC/NRC has fairly successfully juggled the interests of utilities, intervenors, and the general public. (JMT)

• OSTI ID: 5207594
• Journal Information: Nat. Resour. J.; (United States), Journal Name: Nat. Resour. J.; (United States) Vol. 21:4; ISSN NRJOA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

055002 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Safeguards
Inspection
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29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290600* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Nuclear Energy
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
ACCIDENTS
CAPITAL
CONSTRUCTION
COST
ENERGY SOURCES
FUELS
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
INTERVENORS
LEGAL ASPECTS
LICENSING
MATERIALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEAR FUELS
NUCLEAR POWER
POLITICAL ASPECTS
POWER
PUBLIC UTILITIES
RADIATION PROTECTION
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
REACTOR LICENSING
REACTOR MATERIALS
REGULATIONS
US AEC
US NRC
US ORGANIZATIONS