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Funding and management alternatives for ERDA military application and Restricted Data functions. Executive summary

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:7213644

This study responds to Section 307(b) of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, which required a thorough review of the desirability and feasibility of transferring ERDA military application and restricted data functions to the Department of Defense (DoD) or other Federal agencies. The Energy Reorganization Act transferred to ERDA functions once vested in the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) by the Atomic Energy Acts of 1946 and 1954, as amended. They include control of Restricted Data (RD); nuclear weapon design, development, and production; development of naval propulsion reactors, space nuclear systems, and military power reactors; and production of special nuclear material (SNM), such as plutonium, tritium, and highly enriched uranium. Restricted Data originated in the 1946 Act. It covers data concerning the design, manufacture, or utilization of atomic weapons; the production of SNM; and the use of SNM in the production of energy. All information within these categories comes into existence as classified RD and requires a specific action by ERDA to become otherwise. Programs currently generating RD within ERDA include nuclear weapons, laser fusion, nonmilitary nuclear explosives activities, naval reactors, isotope separation, and production reactors. The four succeeding chapters summarized are titled: The Weapon Complex, The Weapon Program, and Other Activities of the Complex; Feasibility and Desirability of Changing Management or Funding Responsibility for the Weapon Program; Nonweapon Defense-Related Programs in ERDA; and Restricted Data Control. (MCW)

Research Organization:
Energy Research and Development Administration, Washington, DC (USA)
OSTI ID:
7213644
Report Number(s):
ERDA-97A
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English