Statement on Signing the
Price-Anderson Amendments Act of 1988
I
have today signed into law H.R. 1414, legislation that extends for 15 years the
Price-Anderson Act, the law that protects the public in the event of a nuclear
accident and that makes feasible commercial nuclear power generation. This new
legislation preserves the public's right to speedy compensation in the event of
a nuclear accident and expands the level of protection to over 7 billion
dollars.
I
sign this legislation in the midst of a summer that has brought record
temperatures to much of our country. As a consequence, many of our utilities
find themselves near the limits of their power-generating capacity.
The
current limits to our electrical generating capacity are already being felt:
clocks losing time because of voltage reductions, temporary losses of power at
moments of peak demand, and the necessity of employing backup generators at
hospitals and like facilities that have this capacity to meet emergency needs.
The
implication of this situation is clear: Our Nation must move forward into a new
era of safe, economical, and clean nuclear power. Nuclear power, like our other
domestic energy sources, is not subject to foreign supply interruptions and
does not add to our balance-of-payments deficit. Nearly 100,000 megawatts of
electricity are provided by nuclear power each year, enough to meet
approximately 20 percent of the country's electricity demand. To replace this
energy with electricity produced by oil would require two million barrels of
oil per day, pump 350 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each
year, and, if the demand is not met from domestic reserves, worsen our trade deficit
by more than 1 billion dollars per month to purchase foreign oil.
Enactment
of an extension of Price-Anderson is the latest in our steps to assure a
reliable, expanding supply of nuclear power for the Nation. The Nuclear
Regulatory Commission is moving forward to improve the efficiency of its
licensing process while still assuring that any safety questions are fully
resolved before major new power plants are constructed. We have worked with the
Congress to enact legislation that will put in place safe, environmentally
sound disposal facilities for the low-level and high-level wastes that are the
product of nuclear power plants. Private industry is developing improved
nuclear reactor technologies that promise to be simpler, safer, and more economical.
These steps are supplemented with this extension of Price-Anderson protections
to assure a sound basis for operating these new reactors.
In
signing H.R. 1414, I note the presence of one provision that warrants careful
construction in order to avoid constitutional problems. Accordingly, I am
stating my interpretation of that provision to make certain that the Act is
implemented in a constitutional manner.
Under
the Constitution the President enjoys plenary and exclusive authority to
determine whether and when he should propose legislation to the Congress.
Section 7 of H.R. 1414, however, might appear to
require the President to submit legislation to the Congress under certain
circumstances. In order to avoid constitutional difficulties, I will construe
section 7 as recommendatory rather than obligatory.
Signing
into law this extension of Price-Anderson protection for the public in 1988 is
a reflection of the continuing commitment of this Administration
and of the Congress to secure the public's right to a safe and economically
secure future. To keep
Ronald
Reagan
The
White House,
Note: H.R. 1414,
approved August 20, was assigned Public Law No. 100 - 408. The statement was
released by the Office of the Press Secretary on August 22.