Title 6Domestic SecurityRelease 119-73not60

§596a Joint Annual Interagency Review of Global Nuclear Detection Architecture

Title 6 › Chapter 1— HOMELAND SECURITY ORGANIZATION › Subchapter XIV— COUNTERING WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION OFFICE › Part B— Mission of the Office › § 596a

Last updated Apr 3, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary, the Attorney General, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy, and the Director of National Intelligence must work together at least once a year to coordinate and review the global nuclear detection architecture. Each relevant agency must check its role and support, review the parts of the architecture that affect it (including strategies and buying plans), and make sure those parts reflect current threat and intelligence information. Agencies that run or install detection equipment must evaluate their deployments, find any performance or technical problems, and check whether they have the staff and resources to meet their duties. The Assistant Secretary and departments in the National Technical Forensics Center must also report on nuclear forensics work and investments, attach the current national five-year forensics plan to the review, and list new or changed international agreements from the past year. The Secretary must also review domestic radiation detection development and buying at least once a year. By March 31 each year, those leaders must send a report on these reviews to the President and to specified congressional committees. The report should be unclassified when possible but may include a classified appendix. Defined term: global nuclear detection architecture — the global program developed under section 592.

Full Legal Text

Title 6, §596a

Domestic Security — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)The Secretary, the Attorney General, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy, and the Director of National Intelligence shall jointly ensure interagency coordination on the development and implementation of the global nuclear detection architecture by ensuring that, not less frequently than once each year—
(A)each relevant agency, office, or entity—
(i)assesses its involvement, support, and participation in the development, revision, and implementation of the global nuclear detection architecture; and
(ii)examines and evaluates components of the global nuclear detection architecture (including associated strategies and acquisition plans) relating to the operations of that agency, office, or entity, to determine whether such components incorporate and address current threat assessments, scenarios, or intelligence analyses developed by the Director of National Intelligence or other agencies regarding threats relating to nuclear or radiological weapons of mass destruction;
(B)each agency, office, or entity deploying or operating any nuclear or radiological detection technology under the global nuclear detection architecture—
(i)evaluates the deployment and operation of nuclear or radiological detection technologies under the global nuclear detection architecture by that agency, office, or entity;
(ii)identifies performance deficiencies and operational or technical deficiencies in nuclear or radiological detection technologies deployed under the global nuclear detection architecture; and
(iii)assesses the capacity of that agency, office, or entity to implement the responsibilities of that agency, office, or entity under the global nuclear detection architecture; and
(C)the Assistant Secretary and each of the relevant departments that are partners in the National Technical Forensics Center—
(i)include, as part of the assessments, evaluations, and reviews required under this paragraph, each office’s or department’s activities and investments in support of nuclear forensics and attribution activities and specific goals and objectives accomplished during the previous year pursuant to the national strategic five-year plan for improving the nuclear forensic and attribution capabilities of the United States required under section 1036 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010;
(ii)attaches, as an appendix to the Joint Interagency Annual Review, the most current version of such strategy and plan; and
(iii)includes a description of new or amended bilateral and multilateral agreements and efforts in support of nuclear forensics and attribution activities accomplished during the previous year.
(2)Not less frequently than once each year, the Secretary shall examine and evaluate the development, assessment, and acquisition of radiation detection technologies deployed or implemented in support of the domestic portion of the global nuclear detection architecture.
(b)(1)Not later than March 31 of each year, the Secretary, the Attorney General, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy, and the Director of National Intelligence, shall jointly submit a report regarding the implementation of this section and the results of the reviews required under subsection (a) to—
(A)the President;
(B)the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Armed Services, the Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and
(C)the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Armed Services, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Homeland Security, and the Committee on Science and Technology of the House of Representatives.
(2)The annual report submitted under paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form to the maximum extent practicable, but may include a classified annex.
(c)In this section, the term “global nuclear detection architecture” means the global nuclear detection architecture developed under section 592 of this title.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 1036 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, referred to in subsec. (a)(1)(C)(i), is section 1036 of Pub. L. 111–84, Oct. 28, 2009, 123 Stat. 2190, which is not classified to the Code. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables.

Amendments

2018—Subsec. (a)(1)(C). Pub. L. 115–387, § 2(a)(9)(A), substituted “Assistant Secretary” for “Director of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 115–387, § 2(a)(9)(B), made technical amendment to reference in original act which appears in text as reference to section 592 of this title. 2010—Subsec. (a)(1)(C). Pub. L. 111–140 added subpar. (C).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Committee on Science and Technology of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 5, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Jan. 5, 2011.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

6 U.S.C. § 596a

Title 6Domestic Security

Last Updated

Apr 3, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60