Nuclear Safety, Research, Demonstration, and Development Act of 1980
Latest action. public lawWhat a bill becomes when enacted, numbered by Congress and order of enactment: Public Law 119-4 is the 4th law of the 119th Congress.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) 96-567.
(Senate agreed to House amendment with an amendment) Nuclear Safety Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1980 - Declares that the policy of the United States and the purposes of this Act are to establish a research, development, and demonstration program for developing practical improvements in the safety of nuclear powerplants during the next five years. Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish such a program. Sets forth as the minimum goals of such program: (1) refining the assessment of risk factors associated with the generic design and operation of nuclear powerplants to determine the degree and consequences of propagation of failures of systems, subsystems, and components; (2) the development of potentially cost-beneficial changes in the generic design and operation of nuclear powerplants; (3) the development of potentially cost-beneficial generic methods and designs that improve the performance of nuclear powerplant operators under routine, abnormal, and accident conditions; (4) the identification of the effectiveness of total or partial generic plant system automation; (5) the determination of the consequences of abnormal operational and postulated accident conditions; (6) the examination and analysis of certain nuclear powerplant fuels, components, and subsystems; (7) the identification of aptitudes, training, and manning levels which are necessary to assure reliable operator performance; and (8) the conduct of studies and analyses to establish a data base and the development of a methodology suitable to permit a comparison throughout each fuel cycle of the relative risks associated with all aspects of using, or not using, each potentially significant electrical energy force. Directs the Secretary in carrying out the generic safety research, development, and demonstration program established by this Act to: (1) coordinate with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the purpose of eliminating unnecessary duplication and avoiding programmatic conflict with any reactor safety research program of the Commission; (2) coordinate, to the extent practicable, activities with other Government agencies and nongovernmental entities in order to minimize duplication of efforts and ensure that concepts resulting from his or her activities are available for application in a timely manner; (3) utilize, to the extent feasible, underutilized federally owned research reactors and facilities along with the associated personnel to maintain existing capabilities and to ensure that the research is generic in nature; and (4) recommend reductions in the complexity of nuclear powerplant systems and operations. Directs the Secretary to initiate a study of the need for and feasibility of establishing a reactor engineering simulator facility at a national laboratory. Directs the Secretary to study and report to Congress on the feasibility of creating a reactor engineering simulator facility at a national laboratory to foster research in generic design improvements and simplifications through performance simulations of various types of reactors under various abnormal conditions and postulated accident conditions. Requires the Secretary, in cooperating with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to study the sufficiency of efforts in the United States to provide specially trained professionals to operate the control rooms of nuclear powerplants and other facilities in the back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle. Directs the Secretary, in conducting such study, to assess the desirability and feasibility of creating a Federal Corps of such professionals within the executive branch, and of establishing an academy to train such Corps professionals. Sets the deadline of one year after the date of enactment of this Act for completion of such study, and requires submission of a report along with the Secretary's recommendations to Congress. Directs the Secretary to fully disseminate safety-related information resulting from any project or other activity conducted under this Act. Directs the Secretary, in consultation with the heads of other Federal agencies and appropriate public and private organizations, to prepare a comprehensive program management plan for the conduct of research, development, and demonstration activities under this Act. Directs that such plan be transmitted to the appropriate congressional committees annually, along with a statement setting forth specified changes in such plan and other pertinent information.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Senate agreed to House amendment with amendment" stage on December 12, 1980. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Public Law 96-567.
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Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
The latest action on file does not map to a stage Civibrief recognizes, so the page will not name one. The record's own words are the reliable fact here.
The record's latest action, on December 22, 1980: Public Law 96-567.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one has no outstanding steps listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
MIKE MCCORMACK (D-WA) introduced it on July 30, 1980, and 34 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 17 Democrats, 17 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on July 30, 1980, 16843 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 16698 days ago, on December 22, 1980.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
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.
Vote history
- HousePublic Law 96-567.
- SenateNot stated in the latest action
- PresidentNot stated in the latest action