C. M. Wells v. United States

Appellant is lessee of government owned land acquired in connection with an Atomic Energy Commission (hereafter A.E.C.) installation, and, as required by the lease, he has constructed a building on said land. The term of the lease expires the year 2070, with an option to renew. The A.E.C. has offered the leased property for sale. Under the terms of the Atomic Energy Community Act of 1955, as amended, 69 Stat. 472 , 42 U.S. C.A. § 2301 et seq., which governs the proposed sale by the A.E.C., lessees are to be given a prior right to purchase the property they have leased and an “improvement credit” is to be given them and deducted from the purchase price. 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 2326 , 2332. The deduction allowed is the amount by which the property has been increased in value by improvements made by the lessee at his expense. Appellant has been afforded the prior right to purchase the leased property,, but a controversy arose between him and the A.E.C. as to what comprised the improvements for which he was entitled to a credit, appellant claiming that the long term lease itself was such an improvement. The A.E.C. thereupon convened a special Appeal Board, as is provided by its regulations, to…