Nuclear regulation: an historical perspective

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