42 USC 2286c – Responsibilities of Secretary of Energy
(a) Cooperation
Except as specifically provided by this section, the Secretary of Energy shall fully cooperate with the Board and provide the Board with prompt and unfettered access to such facilities, personnel, and information as the Board considers necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this subchapter. Each contractor operating a Department of Energy defense nuclear facility under a contract awarded by the Secretary shall, to the extent provided in such contract or otherwise with the contractor’s consent, fully cooperate with the Board and provide the Board with prompt and unfettered access to such facilities, personnel, and information of the contractor as the Board considers necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this subchapter. The access provided to defense nuclear facilities, personnel, and information under this subsection shall be provided without regard to the hazard or risk category assigned to a facility by the Secretary.
(b) Authority of Secretary to deny information
Terms Used In 42 USC 2286c
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Department of Energy defense nuclear facility: means any of the following:
(1) A production facility or utilization facility (as defined in section 2014 of this title) that is under the control or jurisdiction of the Secretary of Energy and that is operated for national security purposes, but the term does not include&mdash. See 42 USC 2286g
- person: means (1) any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, trust, estate, public or private institution, group, Government agency other than the Commission, any State or any political subdivision of, or any political entity within a State, any foreign government or nation or any political subdivision of any such government or nation, or other entity. See 42 USC 2014
(1) The Secretary may deny access to information under subsection (a) only to any person who—
(A) has not been granted an appropriate security clearance or access authorization by the Secretary; or
(B) does not need such access in connection with the duties of such person.
(2) If the Board requests access to information under subsection (a) in written form, and the Secretary denies access to such information pursuant to paragraph (1)—
(A) the Secretary shall provide the Board notice of such denial in written form; and
(B) not later than January 1 and July 1 of each year beginning in 2020—
(i) the Board shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report identifying each request for access to information under subsection (a) submitted to the Secretary in written form during the preceding six-month period and denied by the Secretary; and
(ii) the Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report identifying—
(I) each such request denied by the Secretary during that period; and
(II) the reason for the denial.
(3) In this subsection, the term “congressional defense committees” has the meaning given that term in section 101(a) of title 10.
(c) Application of nondisclosure protections by Board
The Board may not publicly disclose information provided under this section if such information is otherwise protected from disclosure by law, including deliberative process information.