The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was established as an independent regulatory agency under the provisions of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 1242; 42 U.S.C. 5801) and Executive Order 11834 of January 15, 1975, effective January 19, 1975. Transferred to NRC were all licensing and related regulatory functions formerly assigned to the Atomic Energy Commission, which was established by the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 755), as amended by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (68 Stat. 919; 42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.).

The major program components of NRC are the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, and the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, which were created by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974. Headquarters offices are located in Washington, DC, and suburban Maryland, and there are five regional offices.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's purpose is to ensure that the civilian uses of nuclear materials and facilities are conducted in a manner consistent with the public health and safety, environmental quality, national security, and the antitrust laws. The major share of the Commission effort is focused on regulating the use of nuclear energy to generate electric power.

Programs and Activities

NRC fulfills its responsibilities through a system of licensing and regulation that includes, among other things:

-licensing the construction and operation of nuclear reactors and other nuclear facilities and the possession, use, processing, handling, and disposal of nuclear materials;

-regulation of licensed activities including assurance that measures are taken for the physical protection of facilities and materials;

-development and implementation of rules and regulations governing licensed nuclear activities;

-inspection of licensee facilities and activities;

-investigation of nuclear incidents and allegations concerning any matter regulated by NRC;

-enforcement of NRC licenses and regulations by the issuance of orders, civil penalties, and other types of actions; -conduct of public hearings on nuclear and radiological safety, environmental, common defense and security, and antitrust matters; and

-the development of effective working relationships with the States regarding the regulation of nuclear materials.

This relationship includes the assurance that adequate regulatory programs are maintained by those States that exercise, by agreement with the Commission, regulatory control over certain nuclear materials within their respective borders. In addition, a systematic review of operational data, including reports of accidents and other events, from nuclear powerplants is performed in order to detect trends that will better enable NRC to forecast and solve safety problems. Inspection of NRC-licensed activities is carried out from five regional offices. In addition, resident inspectors have been assigned to reactor sites.

The Commission also contracts for research deemed necessary for performing licensing and related regulatory functions.

Sources of Information

General information may be obtained by directing inquiries to the Office of Governmental and Public Affairs, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Phone, 301-492-7715. Specific information is available as shown below. Public Document Room NRC maintains its principal Public Document Room at 1717 H Street NW., Washington, DC 20555 (phone, 202634-3273). As of December 1985, the main Public Document Room contained about 1.4 million documents in hard copy or on microfiche. These documents pertain to the licensing of source material, production and utilization facilities, special nuclear material, transportation of radioactive materials, research and technical assistance reports, reports on generic technical issues, rules and regulations, Commission correspondence, transcripts of Commission meetings, minutes and reports of NRC's advisory committees, and other material relating to the regulatory responsibilities and operation of the Commission.

Members of the public may visit the Public Document Room and examine any document in the collection, or phone or write in requests. The services offered include reference assistance, copying services, and microfiche reader-printers. Manual and on-line indexes and Daily Accession Listings providing bibliographic descriptions of documents in the collection also are available.

In addition, NRC has approximately 100 Local Public Document Rooms around the country. The document rooms are typically located in libraries in cities and towns near proposed and actual nuclear plant sites and contain detailed information specific to the nearby facilities, which are either licensed or under regulatory review. A list of these Local Public Document Rooms, which may be visited, is available from the Director, Division of Rules and Records, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. To obtain specific information about the availability of documents at the Local Public Document Rooms, NRC's Local

Public Document Room branch may be contacted directly by calling toll free, 800-638-8081.

Records Freedom of Information Act inquiries should be directed to the Director, Division of Rules and Records, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Phone, 301492-7211.

Publications The Annual Report provides a summary of major agency activities for the year. It is available for purchase from the Government Printing Office (GPO). Pricing and ordering information may be obtained by writing to the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, P.O. Box 37082, Washington, DC 20013-7082. Phone, 202-275-2060.

NRC produces a variety of scientific, technical, and administrative information dealing with licensing and regulating civilian nuclear power. Information on agency publications can be obtained from Title List of Documents Made Publicly Available, NUREG-0540. This document, published monthly, includes (1) docketed material associated with civilian nuclear powerplants and other uses of radioactive materials and (2) nondocketed material received and generated by NRC pertinent to its role as a regulatory agency. Single copies of monthly issues of NUREG-0540 are available for purchase from GPO and from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Springfield, VA 22161. Phone, 703-487-4600. Subscription service for NUREG-0540, consisting of 12 consecutive monthly issues, is also available from GPO. All the documents listed are available for inspection and copying at the NRC Public Document Room, 1717 H Street NW., Washington, DC (phone, 202-634-3273). The formal reports are also available for purchase from GPO and NTIS.

Single copies of some publications, such as Draft Environmental Statements and Draft Regulatory Guides, are available without charge, to the extent of supply, from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Publication Services, Washington, DC 20555. Interested persons may be placed on an NRC

mailing list for Draft Regulatory Guides by writing to the Document Control Branch, NRC, Washington, DC 20555. Active Regulatory Guides may be purchased from GPO or on standing orders as they are issued from NTIS. These Regulatory Guides are published in 10 subject areas: Power Reactors, Research and Test Reactors, Fuels and Materials Facilities, Environmental and Siting, Material and Plant Protection, Products, Transportation, Occupational Health, Antitrust Review, and General.

Other subscription items available from GPO include: Licensed Operating Reactors-Status Summary Report (monthly), NUREG-0020; Licensee, Contractor and Vendor Inspection Status Report (quarterly), NUREG-0040; Report to Congress on Abnormal Occurences (quarterly), NUREG-0090; Regulatory and Technical Reports (quarterly), NUREG-0304; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Rules and Regulations; U.S. NRC Telephone Directory; Information Report on State Legislation (monthly), NUREG/BR-0025; and the Weekly Information Report. Subscription service for the Standard Review Plan, NUREG-0800, is handled exclusively by NTIS, Springfield, VA 22161.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Issuances (monthly, quarterly, and semiannual indexes), a compilation of adjudications and other issuances for NRC, including Atomic Safety and Licensing Boards and the Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Boards, is available for sale from GPO, either on subscription or on a single-issue basis. Hard-bound semiannual issuances and indexes are also available from GPO. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regulatory Agenda (published in the Federal Register each April and October) are

available in January, April, July, and October from the Director, Division of Rules and Records, Office of Administration and Resources Management, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Persons may obtain information regarding the status of any regulation or petition for rulemaking before the Commission by calling toll free, 800-368-5642. Procurement and Contracts Detailed information on how to do business with NRC and on programs to assist small business is available from the Director, Division of Contracts, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Phone, 301-492-4347.

Employment NRC's employment activities are exempt from civil service requirements and are conducted under NRC's independent merit system. However, NRC employees receive Federal employee benefits (retirement, group life insurance, and health benefits) on the same basis as other Federal employees. Applicants with veterans preference are accorded the preference granted to them by the Veterans' Preference Act of 1944 (58 Stat. 387).

Recruitment is continual, and applications from individuals qualified for NRC needs are accepted whenever they are received. In addition to receiving applications from candidates at all grade levels throughout the year, NRC recruits annually from colleges as appropriate to fill needs for interns and entry-level professionals.

Employment inquiries, applications, and requests from schools for participation in the recruitment program may be directed to the Director, Office of Personnel, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Phone, 301-492-8275.

COMMISSION

1825 K Street NW., Washington, DC 20006

Phone, 202-634-7943

(2 vacancies)

E. Ross Buckley Paul M. Lyons Paul A. Tenney Earl R. Ohman, Jr. Ray H. Darling, Jr. Linda A. Smith

The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) is an independent quasi-judicial agency established by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1590; 29 U.S.C. 651-678).

The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission is charged with ruling on cases forwarded to it by the Department of Labor when

disagreements arise over the results of safety and health inspections performed by the Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Employers have the right to dispute any alleged job safety or health violation found during the inspection by OSHA, the penalties proposed by OSHA, and the time given by OSHA to correct any hazardous situation. Employees and representatives of employees may initiate a case by challenging the propriety of the time OSHA has allowed for correction of any violative condition.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act covers virtually every employer in the country. Enforced by the Secretary of Labor, the act is an effort to reduce the incidence of personal injuries, illness, and deaths among working men and women in the United States that result from their employment. It requires employers to furnish to each of their employees employment and a place of employment free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or

serious physical harm to the employees and to comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated under the act.

Functions

The Review Commission was created to adjudicate enforcement actions initiated under the act when they are contested by employers, employees, or representatives of employees. A case arises when a citation is issued against an employer as the result of an OSHA inspection and it is contested within 15 working days.

The Commission is more of a court system than a simple tribunal, for within the Review Commission there are two levels of adjudication. All cases that require a hearing are assigned to a Review Commission administrative law judge, who decides the case. Ordinarily the hearing is held in the community where the alleged violation occurred or as close as possible. At the hearing, the Secretary of Labor will generally have the burden of proving the case. After the hearing, the judge must issue a decision, based on findings of fact and conclusions of law. A substantial number of the decisions of the judges become final orders of the Commission. However, each decision is subject to discretionary review by the three members of the Review Commission upon the direction