Word: aec
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Physicist Libby, who is planning to retire from the AEC in June after 4½ years of service, noted a new theory, put forward by Physicist E. A. Martell of the Air Force's Cambridge, Mass. research center, that radioactive debris from nuclear explosions near the poles drifts down to the earth much faster than fallout from explosions near the equator. If the theory is correct, strontium 90 and other harmful isotopes from Soviet tests in October will sprinkle the earth heavily during the next several months...
...Commission made an unfortunate mark on two major fronts during Strauss's administration: it attempted to conceal the detection of a nuclear explosion so that its stand against banning tests would be stronger, and, so critics claimed, its stand on maximum "safe" radiation dosage was a reflection of AEC policy rather than the established facts. Both of these situations were a reflection of weaknesses in the commission's basic structure which desperately need correction...
First, the Committee felt that setting these standards was outside of the AEC's Authority as defined by the 1954 act which legalized civilian atomic power...
Second, the committee felt that the establishment and enforcement of regulations should not be put under the control of the same organization, whether the AEC or the HEW. They recommended that the power to establish standards should be vested in the long-standing National Committee on Radiation Protection...
...lesson is one which Congress might do well to apply to the entire AEC. Although the proposal that civilian radiation safety measures should be moved out of the Commission seems a minor one, it is actually a major step in the right direction. If adopted, the change would be a laudable step toward making the Atomic Energy Commission a responsible organization, rather than the present monopoly of fact-finding and decision-making power, which allows policy to determine what facts shall be considered instead of letting facts determine the policy...