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Show 1084 481 FEDERAL REPORTER, 2d SERIES rapid commercial implementation of LMFBR technology has become a national mission.8 In the style of President Kennedy's 1960 commitment to put an American on the moon by the end of the decade, President Nixon, in his June 4, 1971 Energy Message to Congress, announced as the highest priority item of his program "[a] commitment to complete the successful demonstration of the liquid metal fast breeder reactor by 1980,"8 and this goal has obtained the concurrence of Congress' Joint Committee on Atomic Energy.10 Statutory authorization has been obtained to proceed with the first demonstration plant,11 financed in large part by the federal government,12 and the Commission has entered into negotiations with the Tennessee Valley Authority and Commonwealth Edison aimed at concluding construction contracts for the plant. On September 26, 1971 the President announced his intention to seek the necessary legislative authority for a second demonstration plant.13 The Congress supports the program through annual appropriations and, at a time of general budgetary restraint, LMFBR program funds have recently mushroomed to $90.- 3 million in fiscal 1971 and $130 million in fiscal 1972.14 The Commission expects future federal expenditures for the program to be over $2 billion.15 These funds have been in the past, and will continue in the future to be, matched with sizable financial commitments from the private sector.16 The LMFBR's prospects are sufficiently bright to have led President Nixon to say: "Our best hope today for meeting the Nation's growing demand for economical clean energy lies with the fast breeder reactor."17 And the Commission has" recently predicted that by the year 2000 LMFBR capacity will equal total electrical generating capacity in the United States today.18 1-3 (1968). See also H.R.Rep. No. 92- 325. 92d Cong., 1st Sess., 25-26 (1971) : ''The purpose of this development program is not simply to show that we can build and operate a Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor. When that has been accomplished, we must at the same time have established a viable, competitive LMFBR industry which is ready and capable of designing, constructing, and operating large (1000 MWe) LMFBRs." 8. See H.R.Rep. No. 91-1036, 91st Cong., 2d Sess., 21 (1970). 9.' See 117 Cong.Rec. (Part 14) 18200 (1971). 10. See H.R.Rep. No. 92-325, supra note 7, at 25. 11. See Pub.Law No. 91-44. 83 Stat. 46 (July 11, 1969) (authorizing project definition phase of LMFBR program) ; Pub. Law No. 91-273, S4 Stat. 299 (June 2, 1970) (authorizing AEC to enter into cooperative arrangement for construction of LMFBR demonstration plant) ; Pub. Law No. 92-84, 85 Stat. 304 (Aug. 11, 1971) (increasing appropriations for demonstration plant program). 12. Pub.Law No. 91-273, supra note 11, authorized expenditure of $50 million in cash, $20 million in services, and $10 million in waiver of charges for use of nuclear material for the demonstration plant. Pub.Law No. 92-84, supra note 11, increased the cash commitment by an additional $50 million, bringing the total demonstration plant commitment to $130 million. »S'ee H.R.Rep. No. 92-325, supra note 7, at 24. 13. See 7 Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents 1347 (Oct. 4, 1971). 14. These estimates were given by the Government in its answer to the complaint. See also H.R.Rep. No. 92-325, supra note 7, at 22. 15. See Authorization Hearings, supra note 6, at 695. See also AEC, Division of Reactor Development and Technology, Cost- Benefit Analysis of the U.S. Breeder Reactor Program (hereinafter AEC, Cost- Benefit Analysis) IS (April 1969). 16. See Authorization Hearings, supra- note 6, at 739 (past private sector expenditures) ; id. at 694 (projected future private commitments). For statements of representatives of several firms active in the breeder reactor industry concerning commitments of their firms to the LMFBR program, see AEC, Cost-Benefit Analysis, supra note 15, at App. B. 17. 117 Cong.Rec, supra note 9. at 1S201. 18. See AEC, Office of Planning and Analysis, Forecasting Branch, Nuclear Power 1973-2000 at 5 (Dec. 1, 1972) (hereinafter AEC, Nuclear Power). See also |
