§7504 Quadrennial External Review of the National Nanotechnology Program

Summary

The head of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office must hire the National Research Council to carry out a full review of the National Nanotechnology Program every four years. The review must study the Program’s technical progress and goals, how agencies and disciplines work together, agency funding and whether it is enough to meet goals, how well technologies move to industry, success at cross-discipline research, how the Program handles ethical, legal, environmental, and social concerns, and the Office’s performance in sharing technologies across government and U.S. industry. The review must also recommend new goals, research areas, partnerships, management or budget changes, better ways to measure success, compare the U.S. position with other countries and identify key areas to lead, and analyze current and future economic impact. As part of the first four‑year review, the Council must do two one‑time studies: one on whether molecular self‑assembly can be used to build materials and devices at the molecular scale, and one on whether rules or standards are needed to guide responsible nanotech development (including tiny self‑replicating machines, their release into the environment, encryption, defensive uses, human intelligence enhancement, and AI uses). Within 30 days after that first review is received, and every four years after, the Office must send those assessments and improvement recommendations to the President. Within 30 days of the President getting the report, the Office of Science and Technology Policy must send a copy to Congress.