Section 1. Short Title. This Act shall be known and may be cited as
the "Illinois Nuclear Facility Safety Act."
Section 2. Policy statement. It is declared to be the policy of the
State of Illinois to prevent accidents at nuclear facilities in Illinois for
the economic well-being of the People of the State of Illinois and for the
health and safety of workers at nuclear facilities and private citizens who
could be injured as a result of releases of radioactive materials from nuclear
facilities. It is the intent of the General Assembly that this Act should be
construed consistently with federal law to maximize the role of the State in
contributing to safety at nuclear facilities in Illinois. It is the intent of
the General Assembly that the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety should not
take any actions which are preempted by federal law or engage in dual
regulation of nuclear facilities, unless dual regulation is allowed by federal
law and policies of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In implementing its
responsibilities under this Act, the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety
shall not take any action which interferes with the safe operation of a
nuclear facility.
Section 3. Legislative findings. The General Assembly finds:
(a) that Illinois has more operating nuclear power plants than any
state in the Nation;
(b) that Illinois has a commercial, away-from-reactor, spent nuclear
fuel storage facility;
(c) that on behalf of the People, the State of Illinois has not only an
interest in emergency preparedness to mitigate the effects of accidents at
nuclear facilities but also an interest in furthering actions which reduce the
likelihood and severity of accidents at nuclear facilities;
(d) that reduction of the likelihood and severity of accidents at
nuclear facilities is in the interest of the economic well-being of the
People of the State of Illinois because of the substantial costs of (1)
repairing or replacing nuclear facility equipment damaged or destroyed in an
accident; (2) purchasing replacement power in the event of a loss in
generating capacity in an accident; (3) disposing of nuclear facility
equipment highly contaminated with radioactivity in an accident; (4)
decontaminating or replacing private property damaged in an accident; (5)
replacing agricultural products contaminated with radioactivity in an
accident; (6) disruption to the economy caused by an accident; and (7) health
care for workers and private citizens injured in an accident; and
(e) that reduction of the likelihood and severity of accidents at
nuclear facilities in Illinois protects the health and safety of workers at
nuclear facilities and private citizens who could be injured as a result of
releases of radiation from nuclear facilities.
Section 4. Authorization. The Department is authorized to enter into
any and all cooperative agreements with the federal Nuclear Regulatory
Commission consistent with the applicable provisions of the Atomic Energy Act.
Section 5. Consistent with federal law and policy statements of and
cooperative agreements with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with respect to
State participation in health and safety regulation of nuclear facilities, and
in recognition of the role provided for the states by such laws, policy
statements and cooperative agreements, the Department shall develop and
implement a 2-year pilot program of resident engineers in 2 nuclear power
plants in Illinois. No State resident engineer shall be placed at a nuclear
power plant of a company owning fewer than 3 nuclear power plants. The
Department shall employ no more than 2 resident engineers at any time, and the
owner of each of the 2 nuclear power plants to which they are assigned shall
provide, at its expense, office space and equipment reasonably required by the
resident engineers while they are on the premises of such nuclear power
plants. The 2 resident engineers shall operate in accordance with a
cooperative agreement executed by the Department and the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission and shall have access to the nuclear power plants to which they
have been assigned in accordance with that agreement; provided, however, that
neither of the 2 resident engineers shall have greater access than is afforded
by a resident inspector of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The 2 resident engineers shall each operate in accordance with the
security plan for the nuclear power plant to which they are assigned, but in
no event shall they be required to meet any requirements imposed by a nuclear
power plant owner which are not imposed on resident inspectors of the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission. The Department's programs and activities under this
Section shall not be inconsistent with federal law.
This Section shall be repealed on October 1, 1992.
Section 6. No later than October 1, 1991, the Department shall prepare
an initial draft report on its experiences with the pilot program established
in Section 5 and shall by that date provide copies of the initial draft report
to the chief executive officer of each company operating a nuclear power plant
in Illinois. No later than November 15, 1991, each such company shall provide
to the Department written and oral comments on the initial draft report. The
Department shall thereafter prepare its final draft report no later than
January 15, 1992, and shall, by that date, provide copies of the final draft
report to the chief executive officer of each company operating a nuclear
power plant in Illinois. Each such company may, by February 15, 1992, submit
to the Department a written response to the final draft report. No later than
March 1, 1992, the Department shall issue a formal report, consisting of both
its final draft report and any written responses, to the President and
Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House,
and the chief executive officer of each company operating a nuclear power
plant in Illinois.
The initial draft report, final draft report and formal report shall
each outline the Department's experiences with the pilot program established
under Section 5, and shall each discuss and evaluate, among other things, the
following:
(a) The costs of the pilot program.
(b) The role afforded State resident engineers under federal law,
federal regulations, and policy statements of and cooperative agreements with
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
(c) The activities of the State resident engineers, including their
interaction with resident inspectors of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
(d) Any suggestions or complaints made to the Department regarding the
pilot program and the Department's response to the suggestions or complaints.
This Section shall be repealed on October 1, 1992.
Section 7. The Department shall not engage in any program of resident
engineers or inspectors at any nuclear power plant in Illinois except as
specifically directed by law.
