Editing Nuclear Regulatory Commission (section)

==History==
[[File:NRC Briefing on Human Capital and EEO (51245895192).jpg|thumb|The commission meets in 2021.]]
Prior to 1975 the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]] was in charge of matters regarding radionuclides. The AEC was dissolved, because it was perceived as unduly favoring the industry it was charged with regulating.<ref name=atom19>John Byrne and Steven M. Hoffman (1996). ''Governing the Atom: The Politics of Risk'', Transaction Publishers, p. 163.</ref> The NRC was formed as an independent commission to oversee [[Nuclear power in the United States|nuclear energy]] matters, oversight of [[nuclear medicine]], and [[nuclear safety and security]].

The U.S. AEC became the [[Energy Research and Development Administration]] (ERDA) in 1975, responsible for development and oversight of [[nuclear weapon]]s. Research and promotion of civil uses of radioactive materials, such as for nuclear [[non-destructive testing]], nuclear medicine, and [[nuclear power]], was split into the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science & Technology within ERDA by the same act. In 1977, ERDA became the [[United States Department of Energy]] (DOE). In 2000, the [[National Nuclear Security Administration]] was created as a subcomponent of DOE, responsible for nuclear weapons.<ref name=wellc/>

Following the [[Fukushima nuclear disaster]] in 2011, the NRC developed a guidance strategy known as "Diverse and Flexible Coping Strategies (FLEX)" which requires licensee nuclear power plants to account for beyond-design-basis external events (seismic, flooding, high-winds, etc.) that are most
impactful to reactor safety through loss of power and loss of ultimate heat sink. FLEX Strategies have been implemented at all operating nuclear power plants in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |title=DIVERSE AND FLEXIBLE COPING STRATEGIES (FLEX) IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE |url=https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1635/ML16354B421.pdf |website=NEI 12-06 Rev 4 |publisher=Nuclear Energy Institute |access-date=12 July 2022}}</ref>

The origins and development of NRC regulatory processes and policies are explained in five volumes of history published by the [[University of California Press]]. These are:<ref name=wellc/>
* ''Controlling the Atom: The Beginnings of Nuclear Regulation 1946–1962'' (1984).
* ''Containing the Atom: Nuclear Regulation in a Changing Environment, 1963–1971'' (1992).
* ''Permissible Dose: A History of Radiation Protection in the Twentieth Century'' (2000)
* ''[[Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective]]'' (2004)
* ''The Road to Yucca Mountain:  The Development of Radioactive Waste Policy in the United States'' (2009).

The NRC has produced a booklet, ''A Short History of Nuclear Regulation 1946–2009'', which outlines key issues in NRC history.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/brochures/br0175/|title=NRC: A Short History of Nuclear Regulation, 1946–2009 (NUREG/BR-0175, Revision 2)|website=www.nrc.gov|language=en|access-date=2018-03-04}}</ref> [[Thomas Wellock]], a former academic, is the NRC historian. Before joining the NRC, Wellock wrote ''[[Critical Masses: Opposition to Nuclear Power in California, 1958–1978]]''.<ref name=wellc>{{cite web |url=https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/history.html#nrctoday |title=NRC history |author=NRC |year=2013 |work= NRC website}}</ref>