Supervising evolution

Fed management of SRS adapts to changing times

Web posted Tuesday, November 7, 2000

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 Timeline

By Vicky Eckenrode
Staff Writer

When the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1946, it was evident that the country had harnessed a new technology.

It was also evident that someone was needed to supervise the management of the new technology.

Today, that responsibility lies with the U.S. Department of Energy, an evolution of several different federal agencies that formed and disbanded according to the changing needs of the national nuclear program.

The first, the Atomic Energy Commission, laid the foundation and shaped the future of the country's nuclear technology.

``This was a developing science, a developing industry,'' said Jim Gaver, DOE director of external affairs at Savannah River Site. ``Much of this was brand new.''

The DOE is actually the third federal agency to supervise the program.

The initial stages of crafting a nuclear program were fought after World War II ended and the battles moved into the halls of Congress.

Politicians at the time debated heavily for months on whether to place the nuclear program in civilian or military hands.

The civilian side won out when Congress passed the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, and turned the Manhattan Project facilities over to the AEC, a five-member commission.

Although the commission initially harbored hopes of using atomic energy research for nonmilitary uses, the start of the Cold War took the program in another direction - weapons development and the production of the hydrogen bomb.

In October 1950, the commission, facing the Korean War, kicked off a vast expansion program, building production plants across the country.

SRS was one of the plants included during the expansion period.

The commission's next major stepping stone occurred in 1954, when a revision to the Atomic Energy Act allowed private industry to build its own nuclear reactors.

The change ended sole government control of atomic power and paved the way for a commercial nuclear power industry.

With the revision, the AEC still held the authority to regulate the industry, which grew significantly when President Johnson officially ended the government's monopoly of nuclear materials.

The Private Ownership Act of 1964 opened up the private nuclear industry even more, with the single AEC agency still responsible for supervision.

Soon after, the federal government decided the AEC was facing conflicting roles in light of the industry's growth.

The commission had been responsible for both protecting public health from the nuclear industry and safeguarding national security and its own program.

After Congress determined that the responsibilities overlapped, it passed the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, which disbanded the AEC and created two new federal agencies.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was charged with supervising the nuclear power industry.

The Energy Research and Development Administration assumed control of the nuclear weapons program.

But the impending energy crisis brought on more changes.

This was the time period when the federal government realized that the country did not have a formal energy program, said Ernest Chaput, a DOE representative at SRS between 1978 and 1996.

So in 1977, the federal government decided to tweak its nuclear regulatory function again, this time creating a cabinet-level agency that would oversee the country's entire energy program, including its nuclear arsenal.

The DOE replaced the ERDA, and during the 1980s focused its mission heavily on nuclear weapons research.

Throughout these changes, working relationships had to be forged between whichever federal agency was in charge of a nuclear site and the contractors doing the actual work.

At SRS, the roles between DOE representatives and Westinghouse contractors have also had to adapt with the times.

``It didn't just happen overnight,'' Mr. Chaput said.

``Over time, the government became more involved in the day-to-day operation. In the period of the '90s, everyone had sorted out what the role of the people were.''

The result was that the contractors handled most of the daily operations of the site, while the DOE monitored and supervised, he said, sometimes overlapping in duties.

``Some people would say it's a more cumbersome burden, but on the other hand, you'll come up with opportunities that might have been missed otherwise.''

While the working relationship has solidified over the years, the work itself has continued to adapt from the frenzied pace of the arms race toward missions of environmental concerns and remediation.

``Now it's the role of let's clean things up and tidy things up from that period,'' Mr. Chaput said.

Even with the new mission, DOE officials at the site maintained that the original function of the agency remains the same as it did under the AEC half a century ago.

``What stays the same are the basic oversight support functions,'' Mr. Gaver said.

``The emphasis always has been, from the first day, the safety and security of the operation.''

Timeline

The following men have served as managers of Savannah River Site for the former Atomic Energy Commission, established in 1947; the former Energy Research and Development Administration, established in 1975; and the modern U.S> Department of Energy; founded in 1977.

Curtis A. Nelson June 1950 - Jan. 1955 SPECIAL

Robert C. Blair Jan. 1955 - Dec. 1965 SPECIAL

Nat Stetson Dec. 1965 - Feb. 1980 SPECIAL

Robert L. Morgan Feb. 1980 - April 1988 SPECIAL

P. William Kaspar April 1988 - May 1991 SPECIAL

Peter M. Hekman July 1991 - Jan. 1993 SPECIAL

Dr. Mario P. Fiori Jan 1993 - Oct. 1997 SPECIAL

Greg Rudy May 1998 - present SPECIAL

Reach Vicky Eckenrode at (706) 823-3227.

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