RADIATION SAFETY AND REGULATION HEARINGS BEFORE THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON ATOMIC ENERG Y CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES EIGHTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON RADIATION SAFETY AND REGULATION JUNE 12, 13, 14, AND 15, 1961 ,Printed for the use of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy 0 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE -71419 WASHINGTON : 1961 JOINT COMMITTEE ON ATOMIC ENERGY CHET HOLIFIELD, California, Chairman JOHN 0. PASTORE, Rhode Island, Vice Chairman MELVIN PRICE, Illinois RICHARD B. RUSSELL, Georgia WAYNE N. ASPINALL, Colorado CLINTON P ANDERSON, New Mexico ALBERT THOMAS. Texas ALBERT GORE, Tennessee THOMAS G. MORRIS, New Mexico HENRY M. JACKSON, Washington JAMES E. VAN ZANDT, Pennsylvania BOURKE B HICKENLOOPER, Iowa CRAIG HOSMER, California HENRY DWORSHAK, Idaho WILLIAM H. BATES, Massachusetts GEORGE D. AIKEN, Vermont JACK WESTLAND, Washington WALLACE F. BENNETT, Utah JAMES T. RAMEY, Executie Director JOHN T. CONWAY, Assistant Director JACK R. NEWMAN, Professional Staff Member EDWARD J. BAUSER, Technical Adviser 31 CONTENTS HEARING DATES Page Monday, June 12, 1961 . .-- - 1 Tuesday, June 13, 1961 - 47 Wednesday, June 14, 1961-- - 243 Thursday, June 15, 1961 ---------------------- 297 ATOMIIc ENERGY COMMISSION WITNESSES Olson, L. K., Commissioner --- - 297, 372 Wilson, Robert E., Commissioner------------------------------------ 69 Luedecke, A. R., General Manager --- 184 Pittman, Frank K., Director, Division of Reactor Development --.---- 47 Price, Harold L., Acting Director of Regulation 201, 250 Beck, Clifford K., Assistant Director of the Nuclear Facilities Safety Branch, Division of Licensing and Regulation 30, 84 Hendrix, V. V., formerly Director of the Military Reactor Division, Idaho Operations Office - 56 Lowenstein, Robert, Acting Director, Division of Licensing and Regula- tion -- 220, 250 McCullough, C. Rogers, Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards -- 21 Morgan, Capt. Robert, SL-1 project officer - 56 Morris, Peter A -__ - - 85 Nelson, Curtis A., Chairman, SL-1 Board of Investigation -- - 61, 74 Rickover, Vice Adm. H. G., Chief, Naval Reactors Branch _- 359 Rogers, Lester R., Assistant Director for Materials Standards, Division of Licensing and Regulation - -- 287 Schrader, Lt. Col. Henry C., Acting Assistant Director, Army Reactors_- 52 Silverman, Leslie, former Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards 315, 345 Tape, Gerald F., Acting Director, Brookhaven National Laboratory -.. 192 Thompson, Theos J., Chairman, Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards -__--- 223, 347 OTHER GOVERNMENT WITNESSES Landis, James M., special assistant to the President 243 OTHER WITNESSES (BY ORGANIZATION OR AFFILIATION) Atomic Power Development Associates, Inc., Arvin E. Upton, secretary_ 281 American Public Power Association, James L. Grah 1, director of the Atomic Energy Service -- 227 Bechtel Corp., W. Kenneth Davis, vice president, and chairman Commit- tee on Reactor Safeguards, Atomic Industrial Forum - - - 207 Combustion Engineering, Inc.: Allred, W. B., project manager, SL-1 project 57, 88 Zinn, Walter H., vice president ....- 12 General Dynamics Corp., Titus G. LeClair, manager, Nuclear Power appli- cations, general atomics division --- - 269 General Electric Co., William F. Kennedy, counsel, atomic products division -- 274 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Brooks Pawne, repre- sentative on atomic affairs-- 115 Johns Hopkins University, Abel Wolman - - - - - 4 Mitchell, W illiam, W ashington attorney ....... ... ..... ... 368 CONTENTS New York, State of, Office of Atomic Development, Oliver Townsend, Page director ------------------------------------------------------- 226 Sharlitt, Hydeman & Berman, Lee Hydeman --------------------- 349, 354 Trowbridge, George F., attorney at law, Washington, D.C -------------- 262 University of Michigan atomic energy research project, William Berman- 349, 354 Westinghouse Electric Corp., John W. Simpson, vice president ---------- 41 PANEL DISCUSSION Participants: Prof. Kenneth Culp Davis, University of Minnesota School of Law-- 372 Prof. David F. Covers, Harvard University School of Law ---------- 372 Commissioner Loren K. Olson, AEC ---------------------------- 372 Lee Hydeman, attorney, Sharlitt, Hydeman & Berman ------------- 372 Dr. Theos J. Thompson, AEC Advisory Committee on Reactor Safe- guards ---------------------------------------------------- 372 STATEMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD Biemiller, Andrew J., director, Department of Legislation, AFL-CIO ----- 115 Calvin, William A., international president, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders, Blacksmiths, Forgers & Helpers ------ 206 Starr, C., president, Atomics International Division, North American Aviation, Inc ------------------------------------------------ 229 White, George, general manager, Atomic Power Equipment Department, General Electric Co ------------------------------------------- 233 ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SUPPLIED FOR THE RECORD Appendixes to prepared statement of Clifford K. Beck, Assistant Director of the Nuclear Facilities Safety Branch, Division of Licensing and Regulation, AEC ---------------------------------------------- 37 AEC memorandum concerning mandatory hearing requirement under Atomic Energy Act --------------------------------------------- 382 Experience r~sum6s for Combustion Engineering personnel --------------- 95 JCAE press release No. 317, dated June 7, 1961, announcing the witnesses for hearings on radiation safety and regulation ----------------------- 2 Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers, Local 2-652, petition of, pertaining to the SL-1 accident -------------------------------------------- 181 Price, H. L., Acting Director of Regulation, AEC, to Chairman Holifield, dated June 19, 1931, concerning participation in Commission meetings....- 257 Reprint from 26 Federal Register 1224, February 11, 1961, on "Reactor Site Criteria "------------------------------------------------- 238 Summary of McGowan report by Brooks Payne, representative on atomic affairs. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the McGowan report ----------------------------------------------- 119 APPENDIXES Appendix 1: Letter from Lee M. Hydeman and William H. Berman to Chairman Holifield, dated June 1, 1961, commenting on possible improve- ments in the AEC regulatory process -------------------------------- 391 Appendix 2: Letter from John C. Kabachus, secretary-treasurer, Inter- national Association of Fire Fighters, to Chairman Holifield, dated June 14, 1961, on improvements in the AEC regulatory process -------------- 396 Appendix 3: Statement of Peter T. Schoemann, general president, United Association of Journeymen & Apprentices of the Plumbing & Pipe Fitting Industry, concerning improvement in the AEC regulatory process --------------------------------------------------------- 396 Appendix 4: A list of atomic reactor accidents, submitted by Leo Good- man, secretary, Atomic Energy Technical Committee, IUD-AFL-CIO-- 397 Appendix 5: Letter from Kenneth Culp Davis, University of Minnesota Law School, to James T. Ramey, JCAE, dated June 27, 1961, concerning requirement for mandatory hearings -------------------------------- 419 Appendix 6: Dueprocessitis in the Atomic Energy Commission, by Kenneth Culp Davis, and correspondence commenting on article -------- 420 Appendix 7: Correspondence and H.R. 8708 (S. 2419), amending the Atomic Energy Act ----------------------------------------------- 427 Appendix 8: Correspondence and further materials on the SL-1 accident- 431 RADIATION SAFETY AND REGULATION MONDAY, JUNE 12, 1961 CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, JOINT COXMITrTEE ON ATOMIC ENERGY, Washington, D.C. The Joint Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 p.m., in room P-63, the Capitol, Hon. Chet Holifield (chairman of the Joint Com- mittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Holifield, Price, Morris, Aspinall, Van Zandt, Westland, and Bates. Also present: James T. Ramey, executive director, Jack R. New- man, George F. Murphy, professional staff members, and Edward J. Bauser, technical adviser, Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. Chairman HOLIFIELD. The committee will come to order. The Joint Committee starts today a series of open hearings on "Radiation Safety and Regulation." It is our hope that during the course of these hearings the committee will receive an accurate pic- ture of current developments in the fields of reactor and radiation safety generally. We look forward to the testimony of distinguished scientists and engineers concerning the technical problems in the young nuclear science. We also look forward to hearing of achievement and progress- at the same time we shall probe into the facts surrounding the tragic loss of three lives at the SL-1 reactor in January of this year. The committee has withheld a hearing on this accident until the Commission had an opportunity to investigate fully and make its report. The Commissioner's report was released on Sunday, June 11, and has been published by the committee as a preprint for this hearing. In the second part of these hearings, we shall consider the recurring problem involved in the merger of regulatory and promotional re- sponsibilities within the AEC. This is a subject we have touched upon many times in the past. The committee will receive the testimony of prominent persons in government, the atomic energy industry, and the legal profession concerning problems in the operation of the AEC regulatory process. We shall also consider carefully recent proposals for a revision of the AEC regulatory organization.'