Nuclear Weapons Health and Safety Enforcement Act

Nuclear Weapons Health and Safety Enforcement Act - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to require the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (Board) to establish standards for occupational health and safety, public and environmental safety, and for location, design, construction, operation, and decommissioning of Department of Energy (DOE) defense nuclear facilities. Requires the Board to establish licensing standards for new or substantially modified DOE defense nuclear facilities. Prohibits such facilities from commencing operations without such a license. Grants the Board investigatory and oversight powers over the transportation of nuclear materials between facilities. Requires the Board to maintain an onsite staff for investigation, review, and compliance at each DOE defense nuclear facility. Requires the Secretary of Energy to notify the Board and the Congress immediately of any abnormal occurrence at a DOE defense nuclear facility that may result in an unplanned release of radioactive or hazardous materials. Authorizes the Board to issue administrative orders and bring suit in Federal court to compel compliance with its standards (including compliance with State and Federal standards). Authorizes the President, in the interests of national security, to issue the orders the overriding either court orders or administrative orders of the Board. Establishes civil and criminal penalties for violations under this Act.

Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on November 21, 1989. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.

Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.