42 U.S.C. § 2241
Section 2241 · Atomic safety and licensing boards; establishment; membership; functions; compensation
Amended 4 times on record
Applied in 29 court decisions — leading case Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. (1978)
Most recently applied in Husayn v. Mitchell (June 2025)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 556(b) and 557(b) of title 5, the Commission is authorized to establish one or more atomic safety and licensing boards, each comprised of three members, one of whom shall be qualified in the conduct of administrative proceedings and two of whom shall have such technical or other qualifications as the Commission deems appropriate to the issues to be decided, to conduct such hearings as the Commission may direct and make such intermediate or final decisions as the Commission may authorize with respect to the granting, suspending, revoking or amending of any license or authorization under the provisions of this chapter, any other provision of law, or any regulation of the Commission issued thereunder. The Commission may delegate to a board such other regulatory functions as the Commission deems appropriate. The Commission may appoint a panel of qualified persons from which board members may be selected.
(b) Board members may be appointed by the Commission from private life, or designated from the staff of the Commission or other Federal agency. Board members appointed from private life shall receive a per diem compensation for each day spent in meetings or conferences, and all members shall receive their necessary traveling or other expenses while engaged in the work of a board. The provisions of section 2203 of this title shall be applicable to board members appointed from private life.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
In subsec. (a), “sections 556(b) and 557(b) of title 5” substituted for “sections 7(a) and 8(a) of the Administrative Procedure Act [5 U.S.C. 1006(a), 1007(a)]” on authority of Pub. L. 89–554, §7(b), Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 631, the first section of which enacted Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Amendments
1970—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 91–560 required that two members of the board should have such technical or other qualifications the Commission deems appropriate to the issues to be decided.
Transfer of Functions
Atomic Energy Commission abolished and functions transferred by sections 5814 and 5841 of this title. See also Transfer of Functions notes set out under those sections.