Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by the Commission, which the Commission is authorized to issue pursuant to section 2073 of this title, no person may transfer or receive in interstate commerce, transfer, deliver, acquire, own, possess, receive possession of or title to, or import into or export from the United States any special nuclear material.

It shall be unlawful for any person to directly or indirectly engage or participate in the development or production of any special nuclear material outside of the United States except (1) as specifically authorized under an agreement for cooperation made pursuant to section 2153 of this title, including a specific authorization in a subsequent arrangement under section 2160 of this title, or (2) upon authorization by the Secretary of Energy after a determination that such activity will not be inimical to the interest of the United States: Provided, That any such determination by the Secretary of Energy shall be made only with the concurrence of the Department of State and after consultation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Defense. The Secretary of Energy shall, within ninety days after March 10, 1978, establish orderly and expeditious procedures, including provision for necessary administrative actions and inter-agency memoranda of understanding, which are mutually agreeable to the Secretaries of State, Defense, and Commerce, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the consideration of requests for authorization under this subsection. Such procedures shall include, at a minimum, explicit direction on the handling of such requests, express deadlines for the solicitation and collection of the views of the consulted agencies (with identified officials responsible for meeting such deadlines), an interagency coordinating authority to monitor the processing of such requests, predetermined procedures for the expeditious handling of intra-agency and inter-agency disagreements and appeals to higher authorities, frequent meetings of inter-agency administrative coordinators to review the status of all pending requests, and similar administrative mechanisms. To the extent practicable, an applicant should be advised of all the information required of the applicant for the entire process for every agency’s needs at the beginning of the process. Potentially controversial requests should be identified as quickly as possible so that any required policy decisions or diplomatic consultations can be initiated in a timely manner. An immediate effort should be undertaken to establish quickly any necessary standards and criteria, including the nature of any required assurances or evidentiary showings, for the decision required under this subsection. The processing of any request proposed and filed as of March 10, 1978, shall not be delayed pending the development and establishment of procedures to implement the requirements of this subsection. Any trade secrets or proprietary information submitted by any person seeking an authorization under this subsection shall be afforded the maximum degree of protection allowable by law: Provided further, That the export of component parts as defined in section 2014(v)(2) or (cc)(2) of this title shall be governed by sections 2139 and 2155 of this title: Provided further, That notwithstanding section 7172(d) of this title, the Secretary of Energy and not the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, shall have sole jurisdiction within the Department of Energy over any matter arising from any function of the Secretary of Energy in this section, section 2074(d), section 2094, or section 2141(b) of this title.

The Commission shall not—

(1) distribute any special nuclear material to any person for a use which is not under the jurisdiction of the United States except pursuant to the provisions of section 2074 of this title; or

(2) distribute any special nuclear material or issue a license pursuant to section 2073 of this title to any person within the United States if the Commission finds that the distribution of such special nuclear material or the issuance of such license would be inimical to the common defense and security or would constitute an unreasonable risk to the health and safety of the public.

The Commission is authorized to establish classes of special nuclear material and to exempt certain classes or quantities of special nuclear material or kinds of uses or users from the requirements for a license set forth in this section when it makes a finding that the exemption of such classes or quantities of special nuclear material or such kinds of uses or users would not be inimical to the common defense and security and would not constitute an unreasonable risk to the health and safety of the public.

Special nuclear material, as defined in section 2014 of this title, produced in facilities licensed under section 2133 or 2134 of this title may not be transferred, reprocessed, used, or otherwise made available by any instrumentality of the United States or any other person for nuclear explosive purposes.

(Aug. 1, 1946, ch. 724, title I, § 57, as added Aug. 30, 1954, ch. 1073, § 1, 68 Stat. 932; amended Pub. L. 88–489, § 12, Aug. 26, 1964, 78 Stat. 605; Pub. L. 93–377, § 3, Aug. 17, 1974, 88 Stat. 475; Pub. L. 95–242, title III, § 302, Mar. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 126; Pub. L. 97–415, § 14, Jan. 4, 1983, 96 Stat. 2075; renumbered title I, Pub. L. 102–486, title IX, § 902(a)(8), Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 2944; Pub. L. 105–277, div. G, title XII, § 1225(d)(1), Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–774; Pub. L. 108–458, title VI, § 6803(a), Dec. 17, 2004, 118 Stat. 3768.)