Title 42 — The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73

§2210d Security evaluations

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 23— - DEVELOPMENT AND CONTROL OF ATOMIC ENERGY › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER XIII— - GENERAL AUTHORITY OF COMMISSION › § 2210d

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Commission must do security checks at certain licensed nuclear sites at least once every 3 years. These checks include live, force-on-force drills that try to copy the kinds of attacks the site must be able to stop (the "design basis threat"). The drills should match those threats as closely as possible. The Commission must avoid conflicts of interest that could skew drill results. If guards show serious weaknesses, the Commission must make sure the licensee fixes them. The Commission can pause a check if doing it would harm security because the threat level is higher. At least once each year, the Commission must send both classified and unclassified reports to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce that describe the drills and any fixes the licensee made.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §2210d

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Not less often than once every 3 years, the Commission shall conduct security evaluations at each licensed facility that is part of a class of licensed facilities, as the Commission considers to be appropriate, to assess the ability of a private security force of a licensed facility to defend against any applicable design basis threat.

(b)(1)The security evaluations shall include force-on-force exercises.

(2)The force-on-force exercises shall, to the maximum extent practicable, simulate security threats in accordance with any design basis threat applicable to a facility.

(3)In conducting a security evaluation, the Commission shall mitigate any potential conflict of interest that could influence the results of a force-on-force exercise, as the Commission determines to be necessary and appropriate.

(c)The Commission shall ensure that an affected licensee corrects those material defects in performance that adversely affect the ability of a private security force at that facility to defend against any applicable design basis threat.

(d)The Commission may suspend a security evaluation under this section if the Commission determines that the evaluation would compromise security at a nuclear facility under a heightened threat level.

(e)Not less often than once each year, the Commission shall submit to the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives a report, in classified form and unclassified form, that describes the results of each security response evaluation conducted and any relevant corrective action taken by a licensee during the previous year.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 2210d

Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73