The Legal Beagle’s favorite book and that of dog lovers everywhere is Every Dog’s Legal Guide: A Must Have Book for Your Owner by Mary Randolph (KF390.5 .D6 R36 2005). His favorite movie is about the crime fighting pooch, Underdog! His current hero is Uno, the beagle who won Best in Show at the...
With a phrase like “nuclear meltdown” being discussed in the news over the last few weeks, you might be interested in learning more about the governmental organization responsible for nuclear material safety and safeguards, nuclear regulatory research and nuclear reactor regulation in the United States. This body is called the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and was created by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5841). The forerunner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was the Atomic Energy Commission, which was established in 1954 by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011).
There are many resources available about nuclear energy in the United States and abroad. A brief history of the NRC and a summary of its structure and function is available in the Federal Regulatory Directory (Reference, JK 610 .F43 2010). The federal regulations regarding nuclear energy are available in the Code of Federal Regulations in Title 10. The NRC website has voluminous information available, including a map of existing U.S. Nuclear Power Reactor Sites. For information about international nuclear energy conventions and agreements, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s website (IAEA) provides helpful links.