---
kind: "section"
citation: "10 U.S.C. § 6225"
title: "10"
title_heading: "Armed Forces"
number: "6225"
heading: "Notice to congressional committees of certain security and counterintelligence failures within atomic energy defense programs"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/10/6225"
units:
  - "Subtitle A — General Military Law"
  - "Part VI — Elements of Department of Defense and Other Matters"
  - "Subpart B — Atomic Energy Defense"
  - "Chapter 605 — Safeguards and Security Matters"
  - "Subchapter I — Safeguards and Security"
---

# §6225. Notice to congressional committees of certain security and counterintelligence failures within atomic energy defense programs

- (a) **Required Notification.—** The [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) 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) **Significant Atomic Energy Defense Intelligence Losses.—** In this section, the term “significant atomic energy defense intelligence loss” means any [national security](/usc/10/801.md?p=16) or counterintelligence failure or compromise of [classified information](/usc/10/801.md?p=15) at a [facility](/usc/10/2700.md?p=2) of the [Department](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-6) of Energy or operated by a contractor of the [Department](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-6) that the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) considers likely to cause significant harm or damage to the [national security](/usc/10/801.md?p=16) interests of the [United States](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-1).
- (c) **Manner of Notification.—** Notification of a significant atomic energy defense intelligence loss under [subsection (a)](#a) shall be provided, in accordance with the procedures established pursuant to [subsection (d)](#d), not later than 30 days after the date on which the [Department](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-6) of Energy determines that the loss has taken place.
- (d) **Procedures.—** The [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) 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](/usc/10/801.md?p=15), 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) **Statutory Construction.—**
  - (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](/usc/10/801.md?p=15), 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 501 of the National Security Act of 1947 ([50 U.S.C. 3091](/usc/50/3091.md)) for the President to ensure that the congressional intelligence committees are kept fully informed of the intelligence activities of the [United States](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-1) and for those committees to notify promptly other congressional committees of any matter relating to intelligence activities requiring the attention of those committees.

## Source credit

(Added and amended Pub. L. 119–60, div. C, title XXXI, § 3111(a), (d)(2)(B), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1404, 1462.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Prior Provisions

Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in section 2656 of Title 50, War and National Defense, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 119–60, § 3111(b)(1).

### Amendments

2025—Pub. L. 119–60, § 3111(d)(2)(B), realigned margins.