©2025 League of Conservation Voters
1974 Scorecard Vote
138
267
29
Issues
Amendments to the Price Anderson Indemnity provisions of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (H.R. 15323). The bill sets up a federal insurance program with a maximum limit of $560 million in damages to be paid to affected communities in the event of a nuclear accident. Congress was asked to set these low liability limits for over ten years without yet knowing the results of a Rasmussen study of the safety and operating records of nuclear reactors nationwide. The vote is on the Roncalio amendment to limit extension of the Act to February 1, 1979 instead of September 1, 1987. This would permit orderly planning of plants under construction, but also give Congress a chance to re-evaluate the nuclear liability issue when more information was available. An AEC study predicted that a nuclear accident could cost billions, and such low liability limits help to insulate the nuclear power industry from the consequences of a disaster and thus reduce its motivation for safety. Environmentalists argued that the bill gave an unfair subsidy to the nuclear power industry, since other energy industries must pay their own damages or find private insurance companies to compensate the victims of accidents. The President took no position on the amendment. July 10, 1974. Rejected 138-267. YES is the correct vote.
©2025 League of Conservation Voters