Remarks Announcing Establishment of the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island

THE PRESIDENT. In my address to the Nation last week, I announced that I would appoint a Presidential commission to investigate the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island. It's essential that we learn the causes of this accident and make sure that the safety of our own citizens is never again endangered in this way.

I'm pleased to announce today that I have signed the Executive order creating the Presidential commission, and I have appointed 11 distinguished Americans to serve on it.

I have just met with the Commission's Chairman, Dr. John Kemeny, who is president of Dartmouth College and who possesses one of the most brilliant and incisive minds in this country. He has devoted his life to analyzing and to solving some of the most difficult, technical problems of our generation.

His skills and his background, widely recognized, ideally qualify him for the complicated task of determining the truth behind the accident at Three Mile Island. I have no doubt that Dr. Kemeny will succeed completely in this effort.

The other 10 members of the Commission who have been chosen are also very talented and highly qualified. They provide the Commission with the knowledge and the diverse experience needed to complete its task successfully.

That task will be one of the most important ever undertaken by a Presidential commission. The Commission will find out what happened at Three Mile Island. It will assess how the accident could have been prevented. It will review how the Government and others responded, and it will make recommendations to enable us to prevent any future nuclear accidents.

There can be no doubt that the eyes of the Nation and, indeed, of the entire world will be on this Commission. Its judgments will have enormous impact. I am confident that during its 6 months of operation, this Commission will make the right judgments, and the Nation will long be in its debt.

I would now like to introduce to you Dr. John Kemeny.

DR. KEMENY. Thank you.

Mr. President, this is an awesome responsibility. Frankly, I have tried to think of every reason why I should not accept. But when the President of the United States asks one to perform a major service for the Nation, the only possible answer is yes.

I think the public should know something about me—that I hope to spend the rest of my life at Dartmouth College. There is no personal ambition served by accepting this assignment. I represent no special interest. My total commitment as Chairman of the Commission will be the discovery of truth and the formulation of recommendations in the national interest.

The Commission will make a full-scale investigation of the causes of and the responses to the accident at Three Mile Island. We will examine the actions of State and Federal Government agencies and of private industry as they reacted to the accident. We will be looking at questions of public access to information, as well as questions of technology. We will report what we find honestly, as required by the gravity of the event.

Mr. President, for this effort I pledge to you and to the citizens of our country the very best of which I am capable.

THE PRESIDENT. Good luck. I'm here to help you.

REPORTER. Dr. Kemeny, can we ask you a question? I just wondered if you had spoken out previously on nuclear power and, if so, what your views as expressed in the past have been on this subject.

MR. POWELL. I don't think we want to get into a Q&A at this point. Thank you.

Q. Just to see if you had a previous.

DR. KEMENY. Those are my instructions. You will find I've not spoken out widely on this issue.

Q. When do you start? When does this Commission start?

DR. KEMENY. As soon as possible.

Q. So, you haven't prejudged nuclear power per se?

DR. KEMENY. No, I think I can assure you I've not prejudged it.

MR. POWELL. Jack will be available to answer the questions on how the thing is going to get started, and so forth.