§6266 Notification of nuclear criticality and non-nuclear incidents

Summary

The Secretary of Energy or the Administrator must tell the appropriate congressional committees within 15 days when a nuclear criticality incident from a covered program causes an injury or death or forces a full or partial shutdown of a covered facility. The notice must explain what happened and why, say if the facility or part of it closed, describe any effect on the Administration’s or the Office of Environmental Management’s mission, and list any corrective actions taken. The Secretary must keep records of such incidents, including nuclear criticality events that cause injury, death, or shutdown and non‑nuclear events that cause serious bodily injury or death at covered facilities. Management and operating contractors must cooperate quickly. Appropriate congressional committees = congressional defense committees, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Covered facility = a nuclear security enterprise site or a site doing defense environmental cleanup. Covered program = programs of the Administration and the Department of Energy’s defense environmental cleanup programs.