Statement Announcing Activation of the Energy Research and Development Administration and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

I HAVE today signed an Executive order [11834] which activates on January 19, 1975, the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

The activation of these two new agencies has special meaning for me. The proposal to create them was submitted to the Congress in June 1973. As a Member of the House of Representatives at the time, I gave strong support to their creation and cast my vote for the legislation in December 1973. As Vice President, I followed closely 'the progress of the bill through the Senate. I was gratified to sign the bill into law on October 11, 1974. I am now pleased to sign the order which activates the two agencies.

Both agencies will play significant roles in our national energy programs, thereby influencing the lives of all our people.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will carry out the licensing and regulatory functions formerly assigned the Atomic Energy Commission. Commercial nuclear power will have an increasingly important role in our nation's energy supply in the years ahead. This new Commission will devote its full attention to assuring the safety as well as the reliability of this critically important source of energy. The creation of the NRC should end the concern that some have expressed about the past when one agency, the Atomic Energy Commission, was assigned the responsibility for both the technological development and the regulation of civilian nuclear power.

The Energy Research and Development Administration will bring together in a single agency the major Federal energy research and development programs, and bear the responsibility for leading the national effort to develop the needed technology to assure that the United States will have ample and secure supplies of energy at reasonable prices. ERDA will work with private industry, colleges and universities, and others to develop and put into effective use technology that will conserve energy and increase the supply of energy from all sources, including fossil, nuclear fission and fusion, solar, and geothermal. ERDA consolidates major research and development functions previously handled by the AEC, Department of the Interior, National Science Foundation, and Environmental Protection Agency. ERDA also will continue the basic research nuclear materials production and weapons programs of the AEC.

With the addition of these two agencies, we will have organized the major elements of the Federal Government that are needed to lead the national energy effort. They will play a critical role in carrying out the energy policy which I announced today. In the years ahead, I expect to have as much pride in their development and success as I have in their creation.