Restricted Data
Restricted Data is a category of classified information in the United States that is defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 as:
all data concerning design, manufacture, or utilization of atomic weapons; the production of special nuclear material; or the use of special nuclear material in the production of energy, but shall not include data declassified or removed from the Restricted Data category pursuant to section 142 .
The fact that its legal definition includes "all data" except that already specifically declassified has been interpreted to mean that atomic energy information in the United States is born classified, even if it was not created by any agency of the U.S. government. The authority of the United States Department of Energy to implement this authority as a form of prior restraint was only once tested in court, with inconclusive results.
"Restricted Data" should not be confused with the classification category of "Restricted", a relatively low category of classification. "Restricted Data" is not a level of classification; rather, a document can be classified as Confidential, Secret, or Top Secret, while also containing "Restricted Data." In addition, a document containing Restricted Data could also contain Critical Nuclear Weapon Design Information. In this way, a document, for instance, could be classified as "Secret", "Secret//Restricted Data", or "Secret//Restricted Data-Critical Nuclear Weapon Design Information" depending on the type of information a document contains.
Access to Restricted Data requires an L clearance or a Q clearance from the Department of Energy.
History
The concept was initially introduced, with similar wording, in the Atomic Energy Act of 1946. It was added at a relatively late moment to the bill by its creators, after the Gouzenko affair was leaked to the press and caused a fear of loss of "the secret" of the atomic bomb, as well as fears that the Espionage Act of 1917 was not sufficiently adequate.The Atomic Energy Act of 1946 further specified that anyone who:
The act empowered and required the then-newly-created Atomic Energy Commission to regulate Restricted Data both internally and externally.
Categories of Restricted Data
Section 142 of the Atomic Energy Act allows certain nuclear weapons information to be removed from the Restricted Data category to be handled by the Department of Defense or the Intelligence Community.- Formerly Restricted Data is jointly determined by DoD and DOE to relate primarily to the military use of nuclear weapons, and is safeguarded as defense information.
- Transclassified Foreign Nuclear Information is information from any intelligence source that concerns the nuclear programs of foreign governments that was removed from the RD category by past joint agreements between DOE and the Director of Central Intelligence, or past and future agreements with the Director of National Intelligence.
The Sigma categories are subject areas of RD nuclear weapons data related to nuclear weapons, components, or explosive devices or materials that have been determined to require additional protection. The current Sigma categories are Sigma 14, Sigma 15, Sigma 16 and Sigma 20.