Overhaul of Nuclear Secrecy Law Is Studied
The Energy Department is looking at overhauling the law that sets the framework for U.S. nuclear secrecy and that has generated at least 32 million classified pages, it was reported today.
The Atomic Energy Act of 1946, revised in 1954, is obsolete and needs overhauling, Energy Secretary Hazel O’Leary told reporters last month.
Several options for overhauling the law have been assembled into a draft study, “The Atomic Energy Act in the Post-Cold War Era: Restoring the Balance,” the New York Times reported in today’s editions. Among the options reportedly being considered:
* Scrapping the practice of automatically labeling all data on certain subjects as classified.
* Requiring a systematic declassification review of all documents.
* Allowing secret data to be shared more easily with foreign countries to advance safety, security, arms control and nonproliferation.
* Changing the penalties for divulging weapon secrets.
Any change to the law requires congressional action.
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