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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 831. Prohibited transactions involving nuclear materials
(a) Whoever, if one of the circumstances described in subsection
(c) of this section occurs -
(1) without lawful authority, intentionally receives,
possesses, uses, transfers, alters, disposes of, or disperses any
nuclear material or nuclear byproduct material and -
(A) thereby knowingly causes the death of or serious bodily
injury to any person or substantial damage to property or to
the environment; or
(B) circumstances exist, or have been represented to the
defendant to exist, that are likely to cause the death or
serious bodily injury to any person, or substantial damage to
property or to the environment;
(2) with intent to deprive another of nuclear material or
nuclear byproduct material, knowingly -
(A) takes and carries away nuclear material or nuclear
byproduct material of another without authority;
(B) makes an unauthorized use, disposition, or transfer, of
nuclear material or nuclear byproduct material belonging to
another; or
(C) uses fraud and thereby obtains nuclear material or
nuclear byproduct material belonging to another;
(3) knowingly -
(A) uses force; or
(B) threatens or places another in fear that any person other
than the actor will imminently be subject to bodily injury;
and thereby takes nuclear material or nuclear byproduct material
belonging to another from the person or presence of any other;
(4) intentionally intimidates any person and thereby obtains
nuclear material or nuclear byproduct material belonging to
another;
(5) with intent to compel any person, international
organization, or governmental entity to do or refrain from doing
any act, knowingly threatens to engage in conduct described in
paragraph (2)(A) or (3) of this subsection;
(6) knowingly threatens to use nuclear material or nuclear
byproduct material to cause death or serious bodily injury to any
person or substantial damage to property or to the environment
under circumstances in which the threat may reasonably be
understood as an expression of serious purposes;
(7) attempts to commit an offense under paragraph (1), (2),
(3), or (4) of this subsection; or
(8) is a party to a conspiracy of two or more persons to commit
an offense under paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4) of this
subsection, if any of the parties intentionally engages in any
conduct in furtherance of such offense;
shall be punished as provided in subsection (b) of this section.
(b) The punishment for an offense under -
(1) paragraphs (1) through (7) of subsection (a) of this
section is -
(A) a fine under this title; and
(B) imprisonment -
(i) for any term of years or for life (I) if, while
committing the offense, the offender knowingly causes the
death of any person; or (II) if, while committing an offense
under paragraph (1) or (3) of subsection (a) of this section,
the offender, under circumstances manifesting extreme
indifference to the life of an individual, knowingly engages
in any conduct and thereby recklessly causes the death of or
serious bodily injury to any person; and
(ii) for not more than 20 years in any other case; and
(2) paragraph (8) of subsection (a) of this section is -
(A) a fine under this title; and
(B) imprisonment -
(i) for not more than 20 years if the offense which is the
object of the conspiracy is punishable under paragraph
(1)(B)(i); and
(ii) for not more than 10 years in any other case.
(c) The circumstances referred to in subsection (a) of this
section are that -
(1) the offense is committed in the United States or the
special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United
States, or the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States
(as defined in section 46501 of title 49);
(2) an offender or a victim is -
(A) a national of the United States; or
(B) a United States corporation or other legal entity;
(3) after the conduct required for the offense occurs the
defendant is found in the United States, even if the conduct
required for the offense occurs outside the United States;
(4) the conduct required for the offense occurs with respect to
the carriage of a consignment of nuclear material or nuclear
byproduct material by any means of transportation intended to go
beyond the territory of the state where the shipment originates
beginning with the departure from a facility of the shipper in
that state and ending with the arrival at a facility of the
receiver within the state of ultimate destination and either of
such states is the United States; or
(5) either -
(A) the governmental entity under subsection (a)(5) is the
United States; or
(B) the threat under subsection (a)(6) is directed at the
United States.
(d) The Attorney General may request assistance from the
Secretary of Defense under chapter 18 of title 10 in the
enforcement of this section and the Secretary of Defense may
provide such assistance in accordance with chapter 18 of title 10,
except that the Secretary of Defense may provide such assistance
through any Department of Defense personnel.
(e)(1) The Attorney General may also request assistance from the
Secretary of Defense under this subsection in the enforcement of
this section. Notwithstanding section 1385 of this title, the
Secretary of Defense may, in accordance with other applicable law,
provide such assistance to the Attorney General if -
(A) an emergency situation exists (as jointly determined by the
Attorney General and the Secretary of Defense in their
discretion); and
(B) the provision of such assistance will not adversely affect
the military preparedness of the United States (as determined by
the Secretary of Defense in such Secretary's discretion).
(2) As used in this subsection, the term "emergency situation"
means a circumstance -
(A) that poses a serious threat to the interests of the United
States; and
(B) in which -
(i) enforcement of the law would be seriously impaired if the
assistance were not provided; and
(ii) civilian law enforcement personnel are not capable of
enforcing the law.
(3) Assistance under this section may include -
(A) use of personnel of the Department of Defense to arrest
persons and conduct searches and seizures with respect to
violations of this section; and
(B) such other activity as is incidental to the enforcement of
this section, or to the protection of persons or property from
conduct that violates this section.
(4) The Secretary of Defense may require reimbursement as a
condition of assistance under this section.
(5) The Attorney General may delegate the Attorney General's
function under this subsection only to a Deputy, Associate, or
Assistant Attorney General.
(f) As used in this section -
(1) the term "nuclear material" means material containing any -
(A) plutonium;
(B) uranium not in the form of ore or ore residue that
contains the mixture of isotopes as occurring in nature;
(C) enriched uranium, defined as uranium that contains the
isotope 233 or 235 or both in such amount that the abundance
ratio of the sum of those isotopes to the isotope 238 is
greater than the ratio of the isotope 235 to the isotope 238
occurring in nature; or
(D) uranium 233;
(2) the term "nuclear byproduct material" means any material
containing any radioactive isotope created through an irradiation
process in the operation of a nuclear reactor or accelerator;
(3) the term "international organization" means a public
international organization designated as such pursuant to section
1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C.
288) or a public organization created pursuant to treaty or other
agreement under international law as an instrument through or by
which two or more foreign governments engage in some aspect of
their conduct of international affairs;
(4) the term "serious bodily injury" means bodily injury which
involves -
(A) a substantial risk of death;
(B) extreme physical pain;
(C) protracted and obvious disfigurement; or
(D) protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily
member, organ, or mental faculty;
(5) the term "bodily injury" means -
(A) a cut, abrasion, bruise, burn, or disfigurement;
(B) physical pain;
(C) illness;
(D) impairment of a function of a bodily member, organ, or
mental faculty; or
(E) any other injury to the body, no matter how temporary;
(6) the term "national of the United States" has the same
meaning as in section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22)); and
(7) the term "United States corporation or other legal entity"
means any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of
the United States or any State, Commonwealth, territory,
possession, or district of the United States.
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