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ACRS History

The organizational history of the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) began in late 1947 when the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) formed the Reactor Safeguards Committee to serve as an advisory body to its Division of Research. In late 1950, a related committee, the Industrial Committee on Reactor Location Problems, was formed to evaluate the hazards associated with the operation of production facilities. In July 1953, these two Committees were combined under the new name, Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards.

After the Fermi-1 accident, a 1957 amendment to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 was enacted that established the ACRS as a statutory committee with statutory functions. With the enactment of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, the committee was transferred intact from the AEC to the newly established Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The ACRS is subject to the NRC regulations set forth in 10 CFR Part 7.

The ACRS has a history of recommending innovative and risk-based approaches to regulatory problems. A specific example of this is that the ACRS endorsed the development of an NRC quantitative safety goal policy and developed the first set of quantitative safety goals for nuclear power plants (NUREG-0739). These safety goals were the basis for the later NRC work on the development of an NRC Safety Goal Policy. The ACRS has a significant role in the review and resolution of key technical issues associated with regulation of nuclear power plants.

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Wednesday, February 21, 2007