II 110th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 2224 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES October 24, 2007 Mr. Obama (for himself and Mr. Durbin) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To require a licensee to notify the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the State and county in which a facility is located, whenever there is an unplanned release of radioactive substances.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Nuclear Release Notice Act of 2007.

2.

Nuclear release notice requirement

Section 103 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2133) is amended by inserting after subsection d. the following: e.

Notice of unplanned release of radioactive substances

(1)

Regulations

(A)

In general

Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Nuclear Release Notice Act of 2007, the Commission shall promulgate regulations that require civilian nuclear power facilities licensed under this section or section 104b. to provide notice of any release to the environment of quantities of fission products or other radioactive substances. (B)

Considerations

In developing the regulations under subparagraph (A), the Commission shall consider requiring licensees of civilian nuclear power facilities to provide notice of the release— (i)not later than 24 hours after the release; (ii)to the Commission and the governments of the State and county in which the civilian nuclear power facility is located, if the unplanned release— (I)(aa)exceeds allowable limits for normal operation established by the Commission; and (bb)is not subject to more stringent reporting requirements established in existing regulations of the Commission; or (II)(aa)enters into the environment; and (bb)may cause drinking water sources to exceed a maximum contaminant level established by the Environmental Protection Agency for fission products or other radioactive substances under the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.); and (iii)to the governments of the State and county in which the civilian nuclear power facility is located if the unplanned release reaches the environment by a path otherwise not allowed or recognized by the operating license of the civilian nuclear power facility and falls within the allowable limits specified in clause (ii), including— (I)considering any recommendations issued by the Liquid Radioactive Release Lessons-Learned Task Force; (II)the frequency and form of the notice; and (III)the threshold, volume, and radiation content that trigger the notice. (2)

Effect

Nothing in this subsection provides to any State or county that receives a notice under this subsection regulatory jurisdiction over a licensee of a civilian nuclear power facility. .