River promised to be a major step in the transition from technology to large-scale demonstration of the fast breeder concept. The project was launched in August 1972 with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Commission and the principal utility perticipants, the Commonwealth Edison Company and the Tennessee Valley Authority. The Commission would be responsible for research and development of the demonstration plant while the Commonwealth Edison Company and the Tennessee Valley Authority would engineer, manufacture and proof test equipment and systems.(29) Licensing and Regulation Underthe termsof the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, Con- gress had given the Atomic Energy Commission the responsibility for regulating and licensing commercial atomic activities. As the Nation’s electric power industry increasingly turned toward nuclear plants, the Commission found it necessary to modify its organizational structure to separate regulatory from non-regulatory functions. In 1961 the regulatory staff was separated from the General Manager's office and placed under a Director of Regula- tion who reported directly to the Commissioners. Two years later the regulatory and operational functions were separated physically when the regulatory staff was moved from the headquarters building in Germantown, Maryland to offices in Bethesda.(30) Licensing procedures involved a series of technical reviews and public hearings, including an independent technical safety evaluation by the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards. The Commission itself served as a final review board forall licenses granted, and maintained continuous surveillance of licensed reactors throughout their operating lifetime. Research The weapon requirements for national defense in the early years had forced the Commission to postpone goals for an all-out program of research on the peaceful atom. As seen in the development of the power reactor, however, there was a gradual shift in emphasis during the Eisenhowerera, and the trend continued to gain momen- tum during the Kennedy and Johnson Years. In 1966 the AEC budgetfor thefirst time was divided about equally be- tween weaponsand peaceful uses. Research and development programsin the 1960’s and early 1970’s produced a significant fund of knowledge about radiation and its effects, and provided basic data needed to determine radiation protection standards and to assess the environmental impact of nuclear technology. Advances in medical diagnostic techniques based on the use of radioisotopes and radiation machines added to the skills of the medical profession, while immunological research provided the knowledge needed for successful ansplants. Other medical breakthroughs included the 2atment of Parkinson’s Disease, the preservation of calls - transfusion, and the introduction of small accelerators produceshort-lived radioisotopes for immediate use in _atients. Although Oak Ridge produced virtually all of the radioisotopesavailable for physical and biomedical as well as for industrial applications, the Commission gradually transferred production, packaging, and shipping to commercial suppliers, while continuing to support research on new applications.(31) . During the 1960’s the Commission produced a series of radioisotope-powered and reactor-powered electricalgenerating units for space applications. Thefirst such unit was launched into space from Vandenburg Air Force Base in California on April 3, 1965, under the Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power (SNAP) program. Newly discovered heavy isotopes, such as Californium-252, were found useful in both research and industry. In addition, significant progress was made in developing cardiac pacemakers for human use and ultimately artificial hearts using radioisotopic-power sources.(32) Major research facilities such as high energy ac- celerators were constructed and operated by the AEC. Building on the accomplishments of the Berkeley Bevatron and the Brookhaven Cosmotron in the 1950's, the Commission supported even larger accelerators in the 1960's and 1970's, including the Alternating Gradient Syn- chrotron at Brookhaven, the Zero Gradient Synchrotronat Argonne, and the two-mile long Stanford Linear Ac- celerator. The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, completed in 1972, contained the world’s most powerful proton synchrotron. The principal centers for research on controlled thermonuclear (fusion) reactors were Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, Livermore, and Princeton, although many universities and industrial facilities were involved on a smaller scale. Applied Technology As nuclear technology developed, the Commission perfected special applications of nuclear power, such as nuclear explosives for earth moving and for extracting resources deep underground. Gnome,the first experiment in the Plowshare series, was conducted in December 1961 in a thick salt bed deposit near Carlsbad, New Mexico, while the first nuclear cratering experiment, Project Sedan, was completed the following July at the Nevada TestSite. Project Gasbuggyin 1967, Rulison in 1969, and Rio Blanco in 1973, tested methodsfor extracting natural gas from im- permeable rock. In the early 1970's, the Commission directed applied technology projects toward environmental research, energy storage and transmission systems, synthetic fuels, and nonnuclear energy. Nonnuclear Research The scientific and technological expertise gained by the national laboratories in developing nuclear energy made the Commission a logical contender for a strong role in developing new energy options. The doors of the national labs first opened to nonnuciear research in 1960 whenthe Commission, in a special report to the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, acknowledged ‘‘that the strong capabilities of the laboratories are not the exclusive resources of the atomic energyfield; they are held in trust for the Nation as a whole.”” Accordingly, work from other federal agencies would be accommodated wheneverthe skills of the national laboratories were needed.(33) On August 11, 1971, largely in response to President Nixon’s energy message of June 4, Congress authorized the Atomic Energy Commission to undertake research and v