Title 42The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73

§2210e Design basis threat rulemaking

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

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Commission must start a rulemaking within 90 days after the law is passed and give notice and a chance for public comment. That rulemaking must be finished within 18 months of the law’s passage. If the Commission already has a rulemaking to change the design basis threats, it must finish that work within 18 months. When doing the rulemaking, the Commission must think about a range of threats. It must consider the events of September 11, 2001, physical, cyber, biochemical and other terrorist threats, attacks by multiple coordinated teams, help from employees, suicide attacks, water- and air-based attacks, large explosives and modern weapons, attackers who know how a facility works, long-lasting fires, attacks on spent fuel shipments by coordinated teams, plans to protect public health and safety, and theft or diversion of nuclear materials.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §2210e

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

(a)The Commission shall—
(1)not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this section, initiate a rulemaking proceeding, including notice and opportunity for public comment, to be completed not later than 18 months after that date, to revise the design basis threats of the Commission; or
(2)not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this section, complete any ongoing rulemaking to revise the design basis threats.
(b)When conducting its rulemaking, the Commission shall consider the following, but not be limited to—
(1)the events of September 11, 2001;
(2)an assessment of physical, cyber, biochemical, and other terrorist threats;
(3)the potential for attack on facilities by multiple coordinated teams of a large number of individuals;
(4)the potential for assistance in an attack from several persons employed at the facility;
(5)the potential for suicide attacks;
(6)the potential for water-based and air-based threats;
(7)the potential use of explosive devices of considerable size and other modern weaponry;
(8)the potential for attacks by persons with a sophisticated knowledge of facility operations;
(9)the potential for fires, especially fires of long duration;
(10)the potential for attacks on spent fuel shipments by multiple coordinated teams of a large number of individuals;
(11)the adequacy of planning to protect the public health and safety at and around nuclear facilities, as appropriate, in the event of a terrorist attack against a nuclear facility; and
(12)the potential for theft and diversion of nuclear materials from such facilities.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The date of enactment of this section, referred to in subsec. (a), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 109–58, which was approved August 8, 2005.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 2210e

Title 42The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73