II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2254

To amend the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 to establish an Independent

Nuclear Safety Board, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 30 (legislative day, JUNE 7), 1994

Mr. BIDEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To amend the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 to establish an Independent Nuclear Safety Board, and for other

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Independent Nuclear

5 Safety Board Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that there is a great

8 need for—

9 (1) vigorous investigation of events at facilities,

10 or involving materials, licensed or otherwise regu-
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1 lated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that

2 could adversely affect public health or safety; and

3 (2) continual review and assessment of licensing

4 and other regulatory practices of the Nuclear Regu5 latory Commission, which may result in conclusions

6 critical of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or of7 ficials of the Commission.

8 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab9 lish an Independent Nuclear Safety Board which shall pro10 mote nuclear safety by—

11 (1) conducting independent investigations of

12 events at facilities, or involving materials, licensed or

13 otherwise regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Com14 mission that could adversely affect public health or

15 safety;

16 (2) reviewing and assessing the licensing and

17 other regulatory practices of the Nuclear Regulatory

18 Commission;

19 (3) recommending to the Nuclear Regulatory

20 Commission improvements in licensing and related

21 regulatory practices; and

22 (4) informing Congress of findings and rec23 ommendations of the Board that result from the in24 vestigations referred to in paragraph (1).
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1 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NUCLEAR SAFETY BOARD.

2 Title II of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974

3 (42 U.S.C. 5841 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

4 the following new section:

5 ‘‘SEC. 212. INDEPENDENT NUCLEAR SAFETY BOARD.

6 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a board

7 to be known as the ‘Independent Nuclear Safety Board’

8 (referred to in this section as the ‘Board’).

9 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall be com11 posed of 3 members appointed by the President, by

12 and with the advice and consent of the Senate, from

13 among respected experts in the field of commercial

14 nuclear energy with a demonstrated competence and

15 knowledge relevant to the independent investigative

16 and prescriptive functions of the Board. Not more

17 than 2 members of the Board shall be members of

18 the same political party. Not later than 90 days

19 after the date of enactment of this section, the

20 President shall submit the nominations for appoint21 ment to the Board.

22 ‘‘(2) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the member23 ship of the Board shall be filled in the same manner

24 in which the original appointment was made.

25 ‘‘(3) FINANCIAL INTERESTS.—No member of

26 the Board shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) have any significant financial rela2 tionship in any firm, company, corporation, or

3 other business entity that is engaged in an ac4 tivity regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory

5 Commission (referred to in this section as the

6 ‘Commission’) as a licensee or contractor; or

7 ‘‘(B) have had such a relationship within

8 the 2-year period preceding the appointment of

9 the member.

10 ‘‘(c) CHAIRPERSON.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson and Vice

12 Chairperson of the Board shall be designated by the

13 President. The Chairperson and Vice Chairperson

14 may be reappointed.

15 ‘‘(2) FUNCTIONS.—

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson shall

17 be the chief executive officer of the Board and

18 shall, subject to such policies as the Board may

19 establish, exercise the functions of the Board

20 with respect to—

21 ‘‘(i) the appointment and supervision

22 of personnel employed by the Board;

23 ‘‘(ii) the organization of any adminis24 trative units established by the Board; and
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1 ‘‘(iii) the use and expenditure of

2 funds.

3 ‘‘(B) DELEGATION.—The Chairperson may

4 delegate any of the functions under this para5 graph to any other member of the Board or to

6 any appropriate employee or officer of the

7 Board.

8 ‘‘(3) VICE CHAIRPERSON.—The Vice Chair9 person shall act as Chairperson in the case of the

10 absence or incapacity of the Chairperson or in the

11 case of a vacancy in the office of Chairperson.

12 ‘‘(d) TERMS OF MEMBERS.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para14 graph (2), each member of the Board shall serve for

15 a term of 6 years. A member of the Board may be

16 reappointed.

17 ‘‘(2) INITIAL MEMBERS.—Of the members first

18 appointed to the Board—

19 ‘‘(A) 1 member shall be appointed for a

20 term of 2 years;

21 ‘‘(B) 1 member shall be appointed for a

22 term of 4 years; and

23 ‘‘(C) 1 member shall be appointed for a

24 term of 6 years;
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1 as designated by the President at the time of ap2 pointment.

3 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL TERMS.—Any member appointed

4 to fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration of

5 the term of office for which the predecessor of the

6 member was appointed shall be appointed only for

7 the remainder of the term. A member may serve

8 after the expiration of the term of the member until

9 a successor has taken office.

10 ‘‘(4) REMOVAL.—Any member of the Board

11 may be removed by the President for inefficiency,

12 neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.

13 ‘‘(e) QUORUM.—Two members of the Board shall

14 constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold hear15 ings.

16 ‘‘(f) FUNCTIONS AND AUTHORITIES.—

17 ‘‘(1) INVESTIGATIONS.—

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—

19 ‘‘(i) INVESTIGATIONS BY BOARD.—

20 The Board shall investigate any event at

21 any facility, or involving any material, li22 censed or otherwise regulated by the Com23 mission, that the Board determines to be

24 significant because the event could—
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1 ‘‘(I) adversely affect public health

2 or safety; or

3 ‘‘(II) be the precursor of an event

4 that could adversely affect public

5 health or safety.

6 ‘‘(ii) INVESTIGATIONS BY COMMIS7 SION.—The Board may request the Com8 mission to carry out an investigation of an

9 event described in clause (i) and to report

10 the findings of the Commission to the

11 Board in a timely fashion. Whenever the

12 Commission concludes such an investiga13 tion, the Board may analyze the findings

14 of the Commission for the purpose of mak15 ing its own conclusions and recommenda16 tions.

17 ‘‘(B) PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATIONS.—The

18 purpose of a Board investigation of an event

19 under this paragraph shall be—

20 ‘‘(i) to ascertain information concern21 ing the circumstances of the event, and the

22 implications of the event for public health

23 and safety;

24 ‘‘(ii) to determine whether the event is

25 part of a pattern of similar events at 1 or
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1 more facilities, or involving any material,

2 licensed or otherwise regulated by the

3 Commission that could—

4 ‘‘(I) adversely affect public health

5 or safety; or

6 ‘‘(II) be the precursor of an event

7 that could adversely affect public

8 health or safety; and

9 ‘‘(iii) to provide such recommenda10 tions to the Commission for changes in li11 censing, safety regulations and require12 ments, and other regulatory policy as may

13 be prudent or necessary.

14 ‘‘(2) ANALYSIS OF OPERATIONAL DATA.—For

15 purposes of carrying out this section, the Board

16 shall have access to and may systematically

17 analyze—

18 ‘‘(A) operational data from any facility, or

19 involving any material, licensed or otherwise

20 regulated by the Commission to determine

21 whether there exist certain patterns of events

22 that indicate safety problems; and

23 ‘‘(B) operational data of the Commission

24 including personnel and files.
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1 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL STUDIES.—The Board may con2 duct special studies pertaining to nuclear safety at

3 any facility, or involving any material, licensed or

4 otherwise regulated by the Commission.

5 ‘‘(4) EVALUATION OF SUGGESTIONS.—The

6 Board may evaluate suggestions received from the

7 scientific and industrial communities, and from the

8 interested public, on specific measures to improve

9 safety at any facility, or involving any material, li10 censed or otherwise regulated by the Commission.

11 ‘‘(5) RECOMMENDATIONS TO COMMISSION.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall rec13 ommend to the Commission specific measures

14 that should be adopted to minimize the likeli15 hood that events will occur at any facility, or

16 involving any material, licensed or otherwise

17 regulated by the Commission, that could ad18 versely affect public health or safety. The Com19 mission shall respond in writing to the rec20 ommendations of the Board not later than 120

21 days after receipt of the recommendations. The

22 written response shall detail specific measures

23 adopted by the Commission in response to the

24 recommendations, and explanations for the in-
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1 action of the Commission on recommendations

2 the Commission chose to reject.

3 ‘‘(B) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—The

4 recommendations of the Board made pursuant

5 to subparagraph (A) shall be submitted to Con6 gress.

7 ‘‘(6) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of inves9 tigations, the Board shall establish reporting re10 quirements that shall be binding on—

11 ‘‘(i) any person who operates, designs,

12 supplies, maintains, or is otherwise in13 volved with the operation or construction

14 of, a facility licensed or otherwise regu15 lated by the Commission; and

16 ‘‘(ii) any person who processes, stores,

17 transports, uses, or possesses a material li18 censed or otherwise regulated by the Com19 mission.

20 ‘‘(B) PROTECTED MATERIAL.—

21 ‘‘(i) REPORTING.—The information

22 that the Board may require to be reported

23 under this paragraph may include any ma24 terial designated as classified material pur25 suant to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954
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1 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.), or any informa2 tion designated as safeguards information

3 and protected from disclosure under sec4 tion 147 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2167).

5 ‘‘(ii) PUBLIC ACCESS.—Information

6 received by the Board shall be made avail7 able to the public in accordance with the

8 applicable provisions of subsections (a) and

9 (b) of section 306 of the Independent Safe10 ty Board Act of 1974 (49 U.S.C. App.

11 1905).

12 ‘‘(7) HEARINGS.—

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Board or, on the

14 authorization of the Board, any member of the

15 Board, may, for the purpose of carrying out

16 this section, hold such hearings and sit and act

17 at such times and places, administer such

18 oaths, and require, by subpoena or otherwise,

19 the attendance and testimony of such witnesses

20 and the production of such evidence as the

21 Board or the authorized member determines ad22 visable.

23 ‘‘(B) SUBPOENAS.—

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A subpoena may

25 be issued only under the signature of the
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1 Chairperson, or any member of the Board

2 designated by the Chairperson, and shall

3 be served by any person designated by the

4 Chairperson or the member. The attend5 ance of witnesses and the production of

6 evidence may be required from any place in

7 the United States at any designated place

8 of hearing in the United States.

9 ‘‘(ii) OATHS.—Any member of the

10 Board may administer an oath or affirma11 tion to a witness appearing before the

12 Board.

13 ‘‘(iii) ENFORCEMENT.—Any person

14 who willfully neglects or refuses to qualify

15 as a witness, or to testify, or to produce

16 any evidence in obedience to any subpoena

17 duly issued under the authority of this

18 paragraph, shall be fined not more than

19 $5,000, or imprisoned for not more than

20 180 days, or both. Upon certification by

21 the Chairperson of the Board of the facts

22 concerning any willful disobedience by any

23 person to the United States attorney for

24 any judicial district in which the person re25 sides or is found, the attorney may proceed
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1 by information for the prosecution of the

2 person for the offense.

3 ‘‘(8) REPORTS.—

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall issue

5 periodic reports that shall be made available to

6 Congress, and to Federal, State, and local gov7 ernment agencies concerned with safety at a fa8 cility, or involving any material, licensed or oth9 erwise regulated by the Commission. The re10 ports shall be made available to other interested

11 persons on request.

12 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—Each report shall con13 tain—

14 ‘‘(i) the major findings of the Board

15 investigations; and

16 ‘‘(ii) recommendations of—

17 ‘‘(I) specific measures to reduce

18 the likelihood of a recurrence of nu19 clear events similar to events inves20 tigated by the Board; and

21 ‘‘(II) corrective steps imple22 mented or required by the Commis23 sion to enhance or improve safety con24 ditions at facilities investigated by the
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1 Board and other facilities as consid2 ered appropriate by the Board.

3 ‘‘(9) STAFF AND CONSULTANTS.—In accord4 ance with the civil service laws and regulations, the

5 Chairperson of the Board may hire staff and employ

6 consultants for the purpose of carrying out the func7 tions and duties of the Board under this subsection.

8 ‘‘(10) EVENTS.—As used in this subsection, the

9 term ‘event’ includes an action or failure to act by

10 any person, including the Commission as an organi11 zation and the staff of the Commission, or a con12 tinuing series of actions or failures to act by any

13 such person, including operational failures, that the

14 Board determines have a potentially adverse effect

15 on public health or safety as described in paragraph

16 (1).

17 ‘‘(g) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—There are trans18 ferred to the Board—

19 ‘‘(1) all functions of the Office for Analysis and

20 Evaluation of Operational Data of the Commission

21 relating to the functions of the Board described in

22 subsection (f); and

23 ‘‘(2) such personnel from the Office for Analy24 sis and Evaluation of Operational Data as the Direc25 tor of the Office of Management and Budget deter-
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1 mines are necessary to carry out the functions de2 scribed in subsection (f).

3 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

4 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

5 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1995 through 2000.

6 ‘‘(i) TERMINATION.—The Board shall terminate on

7 September 30, 2000.’’.

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