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Dec. 14, 1966
December 14, 1966
Johnson announces investigation into Fermi disaster
President Johnson has announced the creation of the President’s Commission on the Fermi Nuclear Disaster.[1][2] The commission will investigate the causes of the meltdown of the Fermi plant and how it can serve to improve the safety of atomic power plants. The commission is composed of ten objective-minded academics, health experts, and one member of the public. The chairman, Hans Bethe, a professor at Cornell, is a prominent nuclear physicist. The commission will assign staff members and consultants to examine the technical issues that led to the meltdown, the handling of the evacuation, and effects on public health.
The commission's final report is expected to be released in May of next year. However, representatives of the atomic energy industry have criticized Johnson for not including anyone from industry. They are concerned that the investigation may portray the industry in a negative light and have urged the President not to make the report public until industry experts can review it for accuracy.