Nuclear Release Notice Act of 2006

Nuclear Release Notice Act of 2006 - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to direct the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to promulgate regulations requiring certain civilian nuclear power facilities to provide notice of any release to the environment of fission products or other radioactive substances.

Directs the NRC to consider requiring licensees of such facilities to give notice of any release: (1) within 24 hours after it happens; (2) to the NRC and state and county governments in which the facility is located if an unplanned release exceeds allowable limits for normal operation, is not subject to more stringent NRC requirements or enters into the environment, and may cause drinking water sources to exceed a maximum radioactive contaminant level; and (3) to such state and county governments if the unplanned release reaches the environment by a path otherwise not allowed or recognized by the facility's operating license but falls within the allowable limits for normal operation.

Declares that this Act does not provide to any state or county that receives such notice regulatory jurisdiction over a licensee of such a facility.

[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2348 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2348

To amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to require a licensee to notify 
   the Atomic Energy Commission, and the State and county in which a 
facility is located, whenever there is an unplanned release of fission 
                products in excess of allowable limits.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 1, 2006

 Mr. Obama (for himself and Mr. Durbin) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 
                              Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to require a licensee to notify 
   the Atomic Energy Commission, and the State and county in which a 
facility is located, whenever there is an unplanned release of fission 
                products in excess of allowable limits.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Nuclear Release Notice Act of 
2006''.

SEC. 2. NUCLEAR RELEASE NOTICE REQUIREMENT.

    Section 103 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2133) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection f. as subsection e.; and
            (2) in subsection e. (as so redesignated)--
                    (A) by designating the first, second, and third 
                sentences as paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), 
                respectively;
                    (B) by striking the subsection designation and 
                paragraph (1) (as so designated) and inserting the 
                following:
    ``f. Notice of Unplanned Release of Radioactive Substances.--
            ``(1) Notice required.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Each license issued for a 
                utilization facility under this section or section 104 
                b. shall require as a condition of the license that in 
                case of an unplanned release described in subparagraph 
                (B), the licensee shall immediately notify the 
                Commission, and the State and county in which the 
                facility is located, of the release.
                    ``(B) Unplanned releases.--Subparagraph (A) applies 
                to any unplanned release of quantities of fission 
                products or other radioactive substances--
                            ``(i) in excess of allowable limits for 
                        normal operation established by the Commission 
                        or other applicable Federal laws or standards; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) within allowable limits for normal 
                        operation established by the Commission or 
                        other applicable Federal laws or standards but 
                        that occurs more than twice within a 2-year 
                        period originating from the same source, 
                        process, or equipment at a facility.''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (3) (as so designated), by 
                striking ``date of enactment of this subsection'' and 
                inserting ``date of enactment of the Nuclear Release 
                Notice Act of 2006''.
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