10 CFR Part 810 — Assistance to Foreign Atomic Energy Activities — Compliance Brief
Record: nuclear-cert-022 (Nuclear — regulation, flagship)
Issuing body / enforcer: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) / National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) — Office of Nonproliferation and Arms Control administers; authorizations issued by the Secretary of Energy
Jurisdiction: United States, federal — with extraterritorial reach: controls U.S. persons' nuclear technology transfers anywhere in the world, and "deemed exports" to foreign nationals inside the United States.
1. What it is
10 CFR Part 810 implements Section 57(b)(2) of the Atomic Energy Act: no U.S. person may directly or indirectly engage in the production of special nuclear material outside the United States — or transfer nuclear technology and assistance — without DOE authorization. It is the nuclear technology export-control regime, parallel to (and distinct from) the NRC's hardware export licensing (10 CFR Part 110) and the Commerce Department's dual-use controls. Part 810 covers technology and assistance — know-how, training, design information, operational support — not physical shipments.
2. Scope — who/what it applies to, triggers
- Applies to: "persons" subject to U.S. jurisdiction — U.S. citizens, companies, and anyone acting within the U.S. — transferring controlled nuclear technology or providing nuclear assistance abroad.
- Two authorization tracks:
- General authorization (§810.6): no application needed for listed activities to generally authorized destinations (Appendix A — countries with Section 123 civil-nuclear cooperation agreements, principally). Covers routine technology transfers, operational safety assistance at safeguarded facilities, and defined deemed-export scenarios.
- Specific authorization (§810.7): required for sensitive nuclear technology (enrichment, reprocessing, heavy-water production), any activity involving non-generally-authorized destinations, and listed sensitive activities. Applied for through the e810 electronic system; DOE consults Commerce, Defense, NRC, and State.
- Deemed exports/re-exports — the trap for employers: transferring Part 810-controlled technology to a foreign national inside the U.S. is a deemed export to that person's country of citizenship. If the country requires specific authorization, the transfer needs one — even for an employee of a U.S. company at a U.S. facility. DOE clarified that the U.S. company (not the foreign employee) requests the authorization, and that merely employing such a person doesn't trigger authorization — only the technology transfer does. "Foreign national" excludes U.S. lawful permanent residents and protected individuals.
- Reporting (§810.12): general-authorization activities have reporting requirements (advance or post-activity notifications depending on the provision).
3. Key requirements and compliance obligations
- Jurisdiction/classification analysis first: determine whether the technology or assistance falls within Part 810's scope (nuclear technology related to production/use of special nuclear material, reactors, fuel cycle) vs. publicly available information (excluded) vs. NRC Part 110 hardware.
- Destination screening: check Appendix A's generally authorized destinations list as currently in force — it changes (see Live changes). Sensitive nuclear technology always needs specific authorization regardless of destination.
- Specific-authorization applications: describe the technology, end use, end user, and nonproliferation assurances; expect interagency review timelines measured in months. Plan export-control timelines into project schedules — this is a frequent critical-path surprise for first-time exporters.
- Deemed-export program: companies with foreign-national technical staff need a technology-control plan distinguishing Part 810-controlled information from general engineering knowledge, plus the §810.12(g) reporting for qualifying NRC-cleared scenarios.
- Record-keeping and reporting: maintain authorization and reporting records; respond to DOE compliance inquiries.
4. Penalties / consequences of non-compliance
- Criminal penalties under the Atomic Energy Act for willful violations — unauthorized nuclear assistance to foreign programs is among the most severely treated export-control violations in U.S. law, with multi-year prison sentences in precedent cases.
- Civil/administrative: DOE can deny future authorizations; violations are referred for enforcement.
- Debarment and reputational: loss of export privileges effectively excludes a company from the international nuclear market.
- Interagency cascade: a Part 810 violation typically triggers parallel NRC, Commerce, and DOJ scrutiny.
5. Version / edition status and live changes (verified to 2026-09-30)
- Appendix A updated November 24, 2025: DOE added the Philippines and Singapore as generally authorized destinations, bringing the total to 50. The update was framed under EO 14299 ("Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security") §8 on promoting American nuclear exports. (Source: DOE/NNSA announcement.)
- e810 modernization: DOE continues automating the authorization workflow (electronic submission and tracking) — check the current e810 portal for process changes.
- 123 Agreement pipeline: new and renewed Section 123 agreements directly expand the generally authorized list — monitor State Department/DOE announcements, since destination status follows agreement status (e.g., prior updates moved Croatia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, UAE, Vietnam onto the general list upon 123 agreements; expired agreements remove countries).
- Policy direction: the current administration is explicitly pro-export (advanced-reactor export promotion, multiple new 123 negotiations) — expect continued list expansion, but verify the current Appendix A before every transfer; the list is the law.
6. Related certifications (same-discipline, license/flagship, from the catalogue)
- PE Nuclear (NCEES) (
nuclear-cert-003) — U.S. nuclear engineers performing export-controlled design work are the regulated population; export-control training is a standard employer requirement but not a catalogue certification. - NRC RO/SRO Licenses (
nuclear-cert-001,nuclear-cert-002) — operators generally don't handle Part 810, except in training/assistance-to-foreign-operator scenarios (simulator training for foreign utilities is a classic Part 810 fact pattern — verify authorization requirements for the specific program). - Certified Health Physicist (CHP) (
nuclear-cert-004) — no direct Part 810 nexus. - Honest note: Part 810 compliance is an organizational export-control function; no individual professional certification in the catalogue "covers" it. Export-control practitioner credentials exist outside the catalogue.
7. Honest flags
- The "50 destinations / Philippines + Singapore / November 24, 2025" update is from a DOE/NNSA announcement — verify the current Appendix A in the eCFR before relying on the count, since the list changes.
- Deemed-export rules summarized from the Part 810 final-rule preamble and DOE guidance — fact-specific; the foreign-national scenarios have detailed conditions (§810.6(b), §810.12(g)) that must be read in full for any real case.
- Penalty descriptions are general AEA export-control consequences; specific penalty provisions should be verified in the statute for the violation at issue.
- This brief does not address NRC Part 110 (hardware exports) or ITAR/EAR interfaces — a complete export transaction needs all three regimes screened.
Original ETS reference writing, verified against public sources on 2026-09-30. Thin sourcing is flagged inline. Not legal advice — confirm current editions with the issuing body.