CHAPTER TWO: U.S. EXECUTIVE BRANCH ORGANIZATIONS
Independent Government Agencies

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
http://www.odci.gov/cia/
Useful publications such as the "World Factbook" and "Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments" online.

National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)
http://www.nro.odci.gov/
Actually an agency of the DOD, designs, builds, and operates U.S. reconnaisance satellites. The Director of Central Intelligence establishes NRO collection priorities and targeting requirements. From 1961 until 1992 the U.S. did not acknowledge that NRO existed.

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB)
http://www.dnfsb.gov
Independent external organization having oversight of all activities in DOE's nuclear weapons complex affecting health and safety. An excellent web site and public service with a searchable database of full-text documents.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
http://www.epa.gov/
The EPA Server is WAIS searchable at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/search.html.

Office of Air and Radiation
http://www.epa.gov/oar/oarhomet.html
Searchable homepage at http://www.epa.gov/oar/oarsrch.html.

National Air and Radiation Environmental Laboratory
http://www.epa.gov/narel/
Alabama-based organization with an emergency response team to respond to nuclear emergencies anywhere in the world.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
http://www.fema.gov/
The nuclear civil defense role of FEMA has diminished, as is reflected in the web site.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
http://www.nasa.gov/
Only tangentially related to nuclear weapons through common interest in missiles and rockets. The NASA homepage includes links to headquarters and 12 NASA centers and institutes.

National Science Foundation (NSF)
http://www.nsf.gov
gopher://stis.nsf.gov:70/1
Independent agency established by the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; and to secure the national defense."

Nuclear Physics Program
http://www.nsf.gov/mps/phy/nuclear.htm

DOE/NSF Nuclear Science Advisory Committee (NSAC)
http://www.sc.doe.gov/henp/np/nsac/nsac.html

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
http://www.nrc.gov
Created in 1974 and taking over the regulatory functions of the disestablished Atomic Energy Commission. Among its responsibilities are to regulate commercial nuclear power reactors, and the transport, storage, and disposal of nuclear materials and waste.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission on FedWorld
http://www.fedworld.gov/ftp.htm#nrc
Files libraries and message forums including Generic Communications, Health Physics, Status of Public Petitions. NRC Documents can be accessed online at http://www.nrc.gov/fedworld.html.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
http://www.rferl.org/
A private non-profit organization funded by the U.S. Congress with offices in Washington and Prague. It broadcasts news and current affairs programs daily in 23 languages to listeners in central Europe and the former Soviet Union. The searchable repository of U.S. radio broadcasts to Eastern Europe from 1991- is available online at http://solar.rtd.utk.edu/friends/news/rferl/master.html.

The Smithsonian Institution
http://www.si.edu
Includes the National Air and Space Museum and the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars.

Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars
http://www.si.edu/organiza/affil/WWICS/
Government-funded research center with programs and projects including the Cold War International History Project, the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies, and the Division of International Studies.

U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP)
http://www.usip.org/
Independent, non-partisan federal institution created in 1984 and funded by Congress. It hosts fellows, publishes books and reports, and a bi-monthly magazine, and holds conferences and seminars.