Regulations Proposed regulations on licensing of operators of production and utilization facilities, radiation protection, and rules of practice were published in Federal Register (under Notice of Rule Making), so that the public might have an opportunity to comment on them before they became effective. A number of helpful comments and suggestions on these three regulations, and the four proposed regulations previously published, were received. Work is continuing on the revision of the proposed regulations in light of these comments and further staff studies. A regulation on operator's licenses was published in the Federal Register January 4, 1956, to become effective in 30 days. Other regulations were scheduled to follow rapidly. In connection with the proposed regulations prescribing standards for protection against radiation hazards, the Commission has established an advisory committee of State officials as a means of obtaining the views and suggestions of State regulatory agencies on regulatory problems of public health and industrial safety (see Appendix 2). Access Program In order to make classified atomic energy information available to organizations and individuals for their private uses, the Commission started the Access Permit program on April 20, 1955. Under this program, private individuals or organizations may obtain permits for access to either Confidential or Confidential and Secret Restricted Data, depending on their needs. As of December 31, 1955, AEC had received 686 applications for permits and 602 permits had been issued. Of the issued permits, 430 were for access to Confidential Restricted Data only. The remainder were for Secret Data in certain limited categories of information. Access permits were issued to companies in all parts of the country, from most segments of industry, and from companies which have expressed interest in many phases of atomic energy activity as indicated by the listing below: DATA ON ACCESS PERMITS ISSUED THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 1955 Reactors for other purposes such as research, propulsion of Plants to refine uranium and thorium ore and process feed Chemical plants for reprocessing spent fuel elements_ ཚེ་ལ་ཆེས 28 39 Manufacture of Atomic Energy Products Entire reactors____ 40 Components such as fuel elements, instruments and pumps for 123 Materials for atomic energy applications such as zirconium, 49 Related Activities Utilizing radioactive isotopes for sterilization of food, radio- 38 Design and construction of atomic energy facilities.. General nuclear research____ 56 28 NOTE. These figures include permit holders with more than one field of interest, resulting in a total greater than the number of permittees. The permit holders must obtain security clearances for such of their personnel as will require access and establish suitable arrangements for storage of classified material and for security education before they may receive any classified documents. After fulfilling these requirements, permit holders and their employees may receive classified matter and discuss classified topics with other cleared people, As part of the AEC program to foster development of a private atomic energy industry, several meetings were conducted by the Reactor Development Division and the Division of Production to present technological information of interest to companies planning atomic energy activities. In July 1955, the first symposium on fuel processing was held at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory with about 200 representatives present from industrial processing companies and utilities interested in nuclear power. The sessions were classified and open to companies with either access permits or study agreements. Descriptions of the ORNL Metal Recovery Plant, an irradiated thorium processing plant and the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant were presented along with cost data to give the visitors a basis for comparing costs of commercial plants with reactor fuel processing plants. The Argonne National Laboratory reported on research and development of the boiling water and fast breeder reactor systems at a meeting November 1-2 at the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho. A seminar on the liquid metal fueled reactor concept was held by the Brookhaven National Laboratory at the laboratory site. on Long Island on November 21-22. Between 200 and 300 access permit holders attended these sessions. An unclassified discussion of problems relating to the development and construction of the Pressurized Water Reactor Plant at Shippingport, Pa., was conducted at Pittsburgh, Pa. on December 2, attended by officials and technical people from industrial firms, electric utilities, banking and investment firms and insurance companies. Certain materials and services required for the civilian uses of atomic energy are presently available only from the Commission. The Commission has developed and is countinuing to develop pricing and allocation schedules to provide the necessary materials and services for the peacetime atomic energy industry. Activities of U. S. Companies in Foreign Atomic Energy Programs In October, the Commission, pursuant to Section 57 a (3) (B) of the 1954 Act, announced a general authorization under which United States companies and individuals may engage in unclassified activities in foreign countries without specific approval of the Commission. The only limitations are that the authorization does not apply to those countries listed as Subgroup A countries or destinations in Section 371.3 of the Comprehensive Export Schedule of the Department of Commerce (see Appendix 6), that the activity does not involve the communication of restricted data or other classified defense information, and is conducted in compliance with other applicable provisions of law. The bilateral agreement for cooperation with Canada has been implemented in nine instances to allow private commercial firms of the countries to collaborate in activities which involve the communication of restricted data or other unclassified defense information. Licensing Activities Applications for licenses to construct production and/or utilization facilities were received from the following: Cook Electric Co., Chicago, Ill.—for construction and operation of a facility for the fabrication of fuel elements. Construction of the facility was approved. The Babcock and Wilcox Co., New York, N. Y.-for construction and operation of a fuel element fabrication facility and a critical assembly facility, both at the company's site near Lynchburg, Va. Construction of both facilities was approved. Metals and Controls Corp., Attleboro, Mass.-for construction and operation of a fuel element fabrication facility. Construction of the facility was approved. Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio-for construction and operation of a critical assembly facility at West Jefferson, Ohio. A construction permit was issued. The Institute was also issued a construction permit covering the construction of a modified “swimming pool" type research reactor to operate at 1,000 kilowatts. Applied Nucleonics Corp., Walnut Creek, Calif.—for construction and operation of a research reactor to operate at a power level of 100 milliwatts. A license to operate a research reactor, also of the "swimming pool" type, was issued to Pennsylvania State University. Construction of this reactor was started before enactment of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. A formal license was issued to North Carolina State College for operation of the Raleigh Research Reactor. The college previously operated the reactor under a contract and interim licensing arrangement with the Commission. Applications to receive and possess special nuclear material were received from the following: Atomic Power Development Associates, Inc., Detroit, Mich. In connection with its research and development activities relating to nuclear power reactors, this organization applied for an allocation of and appropriate licenses for 15 kilograms of uranium enriched to 10 percent in the isotope uranium 235 and 2,000 kilograms of normal uranium and uranium depleted in the isotope uranium 235. Glenn L. Martin Co., Baltimore, Md. This application is for an allocation of 18 grams and a license to possess 50 grams of contained uranium 235 for use in fuel element research and development. Nuclear Development Corporation of America, White Plains, N. Y. This firm applied for a license to authorize the possession of two kilograms of uranium enriched up to 30 percent in the isotope uranium 235 for irradiation studies relating to fuel element research. The Babcock and Wilcox Co., New York, N. Y. This application is for a license to possess 50 grams of uranium 235 for use in a breeder element test loop for obtaining data relating to the construction of the Consolidated Edison Reactor, and to possess the uranium 233 resulting from irradiation of a small quantity of thorium. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. The University applied for authorization to receive four spent MTR fuel assemblies and a license to possess these assemblies to investigate the methods and effects of using them as high intensity gamma irradiation sources in biological and other processes. In addition to those indicated above licenses authorizing the receipt and use of special nuclear materials were issued to Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio; Nuclear Science and Engineering Corp., Pittsburgh, Pa.; and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N. Y. Eleven applications for operator licenses were received; however, only three applications contained all the required information. Licenses were issued in those cases. Source Material Licenses A total of 1,874 source material licenses were issued or renewed during the calendar year 1955. These include 885 to producers, 28 to processors, 79 to distributors, 167 to consumers, and 715 to exporters. Facility Component Licenses Effective September 26, 1955, the Commission relinquished the AEC controls administered since 1947 with respect to the export of certain facility components. The specific items involved were (1) radiation detection and measurement instruments, (2) mass spectrometers, mass spectrographs and mass spectrometer-type leak detectors, (3) large vacuum diffusion pumps, and (4) certain types of electro-nuclear machines. Concurrently with this action by the Commission, the U. S. Department of Commerce assumed export licensing jurisdiction with respect to these items. During the period January 1 to September 26, 1955, the Commission issued 3,480 export licenses authorizing shipments of these types of instruments and equipment. |