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Remarks before theNATIONAL COMMISSION on the BP DEEPWATER

HORIZON OIL SPILL and OFFSHORE DRILLINGby

Zack T. Pate, chairman emeritusINSTITUTE OF NUCLEAR POWER OPERATIONS

August 25, 2010

When the Three Mile Island accident occurred I was working for

Admiral Rickover at Naval Reactors Headquarters in this city.

Admiral Rickover, widely recognized by that point in history asthe Father of the Nuclear Navy, took a keen interest in the accident andthe new Presidential Commission and, of course, the lessons that couldbe learned.

As soon as the TMI Commission was formed he negotiated to

place a senior staffer on the Commission. A naval officer, RonaldEtychison, was named to that position.

Captain Etychison kept Admiral Rickover and others at NavalReactors fully informed throughout the six month proceedings of theCommission, and through his involvement Naval Reactors was able tokeep abreast of the proceedings and have an input. Captain Etychisonwas fully engaged with the Commission, and I know from personalknowledge that he worked closely with Professor John Kemeny of Dartmouth, Professor Tom Pigford of Cal Berkeley, and Pat Hagerty,chairman of Texas Instruments.

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8/8/2019 Zack Pate Written Statement

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In 1989, ten years after the accident, we prepared a comprehensivereport that described progress on every applicable recommendation.We sent a copy to each member of the TMI Commission and to a wide

range of government officials, including:

the Secretary of Energythe White House Chief of Staff the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,and each of the NRC Commissionersevery Senator, andevery Congressman

Within a few weeks we received an advance copy of a press release thatProfessor John Kemeny, chairman of the Commission, made. Keyexcerpts from his March 28, 1989 release include:

Quote: A decade ago I had the priviledge of chairing the President sCommission on the Accident at TMI.----The Institute of Nuclear Power

Operations has just issued a Report of Nuclear Utility Responses toKemeny Commission Recommendations.----The Report takes up ourmajor recommendations one by one, and summarizes the way they wereimplemented. The improvements over the past decade have beenimpressive, and are very reassuring .

We fel t that what we wrote was important. We now know that thePresidential Commission has made a difference. End quote.

With that early history, and plenty of challenge remaining forINPO and its member utilities, I turn back now to Admiral Jim Ellis.

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