§2656 — Title 50 War and National Defense | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary of Energy must tell the Senate and House Armed Services Committees when there is a major intelligence or counterintelligence failure involving classified information at a Department of Energy site or a DOE contractor site. The Secretary must first consult with the Director of National Intelligence and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation as needed. The notice must be sent no later than 30 days after the Department of Energy decides the loss happened. "Significant atomic energy defense intelligence loss" — a national security or counterintelligence failure at a DOE facility or contractor that the Secretary thinks could seriously harm U.S. security. The Secretary and the two committees must set up procedures to protect classified material, intelligence sources and methods, and sensitive law enforcement information they receive. The law does not let the Secretary refuse to give information to those Armed Services Committees on the grounds that it would be an unauthorized disclosure, and it does not change other rules about reporting intelligence to congressional intelligence committees.

Title 50, §2656

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(a)The Secretary of Energy shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a notification of each significant atomic energy defense intelligence loss. Any such notification shall be provided only after consultation with the Director of National Intelligence and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as appropriate.

(b)In this section, the term “significant atomic energy defense intelligence loss” means any national security or counterintelligence failure or compromise of classified information at a facility of the Department of Energy or operated by a contractor of the Department that the Secretary considers likely to cause significant harm or damage to the national security interests of the United States.

(c)Notification of a significant atomic energy defense intelligence loss under subsection (a) shall be provided, in accordance with the procedures established pursuant to subsection (d), not later than 30 days after the date on which the Department of Energy determines that the loss has taken place.

(d)The Secretary of Energy and the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives shall each establish such procedures as may be necessary to protect from unauthorized disclosure classified information, information relating to intelligence sources and methods, and sensitive law enforcement information that is submitted to those committees pursuant to this section and that are otherwise necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.

(e)(1)Nothing in this section shall be construed as authority to withhold any information from the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives on the grounds that providing the information to those committees would constitute the unauthorized disclosure of classified information, information relating to intelligence sources and methods, or sensitive law enforcement information.

(2)Nothing in this section shall be construed to modify or supersede any other requirement to report information on intelligence activities to Congress, including the requirement under section 3091 of this title for the President to ensure that the congressional intelligence committees are kept fully informed of the intelligence activities of the United States and for those committees to notify promptly other congressional committees of any matter relating to intelligence activities requiring the attention of those committees.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was formerly classified to section 7383d of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to renumbering by Pub. L. 108–136.

Amendments

2014—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 113–291, § 3142(k)(1), reenacted heading without change. Subsec. (e)(2). Pub. L. 113–291, § 3142(k)(2), made technical amendment to reference in original act which appears in text as reference to section 3091 of this title. 2013—Pub. L. 112–239, § 3131(m)(1)(A), substituted “atomic” for “nuclear” in section catchline. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 112–239, § 3131(bb)(1)(D), substituted “Director of National Intelligence” for “Director of Central Intelligence”. Pub. L. 112–239, § 3131(m)(1)(C), substituted “atomic energy defense” for “nuclear defense”. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 112–239, § 3131(m)(1)(B), (C), substituted “atomic energy” for “nuclear” in heading and “atomic energy defense” for “nuclear defense” in text. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 112–239, § 3131(m)(1)(C), substituted “atomic energy defense” for “nuclear defense”. Subsec. (e)(2). Pub. L. 113–66 substituted “Congress” for “the Congress”.

§2656 Notice to Congressional Committees of Certain Security and Counterintelligence Failures Within Atomic Energy Defense Programs

Summary

Title 50, §2656

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Citations & Metadata