Considers S. 2725 and companion bill H.R. 10805, to authorize the construction by AEC of six nuclear power facilities for the production of electric power.

Fortress California, now in paperback for the first time, links the growth of the U.S. military-industrial complex to civic leaders who competed for military bases and military contracts to ensure economic growth. Analyzing the growth of Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco from 1910 to 1961, Roger W. Lotchin discredits the assumption that the industrialization of the Sunbelt was a result of a partnership between industry and the military. He provides instead a detailed and forceful argument that municipalities used federal resources to build urban empires and metropolitan-military complexes. These have increased the flow of federal dollars into the state, thereby shifting the focus of the military-industrial complex from warfare to welfare.

Dubbed Mr. Atomic Energy by Congressional colleagues and friends in recognition of his 28 years as a member and 10 years as House leader of the House-Senate Joint Committee on Atomic Energy (JCAE), Democratic Congressman Chet Holifield of California's 19th Congressional District served 32 years in Congress, from 1943 through 1974, and was a powerful figure in atomic energy matters. This first biography of Holifield, in chronicling the Congressman's significant role in the development and course of U.S. atomic energy programs and policies, also serves as a history of the formative period of this new force in national and international politics. An early champion of atomic energy, Holifield's efforts contributed to the establishment of the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 and earned him a place on the JCAE. His 1949 recommendation on the H-bomb led to the development of this new weapon nine months before the Russians. An ardent proponent of public power in the 1950s, Holifield opposed the premature involvement of private industry in the development of atomic power and urged increased government participation in that area; many of his recommendations were later authorized by the Atomic Energy Commission. Holifield supported the conversion of the Hanford, Washington N-reactor to electricity as well as plutonium production, criticized U.S. civil defense strategy as inadequate, and championed both peaceful use of atomic energy and a nuclear Navy. During the Nixon administration, in response to environmentalists opposition to further atomic power development, the Congressman took the unpopular position that trade-offs between safety concerns and the public's need for increased amounts of electrical power were necessary. He also sponsored legislation that divided the AEC into the Research and Development Administration and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a move that affected the course of atomic energy development well beyond his retirement. The first chapter is devoted to a biographical sketch of Holifield's life prior to his congressional career, while the remaining nine chapters trace his influence and contributions in atomic energy matters. The in-depth description of the Holifield Papers as well as the select bibliography will be of great value to scholars of atomic energy history. Serving as an introduction to the wide range of atomic energy topics and issues, this biography would be a significant addition to the reading lists for American history survey courses as well as being useful for seminars that have students investigate atomic energy history.

"Duffy's work traces nuclear politics from the creation of a powerful subgovernment through the public lobby reforms of the late 1960s and early 1970s and the deregulatory backlash of the Reagan years. He demonstrates that while policies did change in the 1970s, they did not change as much as other accounts have suggested, and that the industry continued to receive considerable federal support. The book is particularly significant for extending the discussion of nuclear policy through the Bush and Clinton years, including the controversy over waste disposal, new licensing procedures enacted in the 1992 Amendments to the Atomic Energy Act, and the effects of deregulation of electric utilities." -- Amazon.com viewed August 24, 2020.