Congress Poised to Restrict NNSA Labs from Admitting Citizens of Four Countries

A provision prohibiting citizens or “agents” of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea from accessing non-public areas of the Department of Energy’s national security labs is included in the final version of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act, released over the weekend ahead of a planned vote this week.

If passed by Congress, the provision will take effect on April 15, 2025, and will apply to Los Alamos National Lab, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, and Sandia National Labs. The prohibition can be waived on a case-by-case basis by the secretary of energy and does not apply to people who are also U.S. citizens or permanent residents or who are involved in certain nonproliferation or counterterrorism efforts.

The explanatory statement accompanying the legislation further clarifies that certain facilities that support both national security and basic research programs, such as the National Ignition Facility, “may be partitioned in the determination of what areas directly support the mission, functions, and operations of the National Nuclear Security Administration,” the arm of DOE that funds the three national security labs.

A version of the provision was present in both the House and Senate versions of the bill, with the House proposal led by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO). Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Marco Rubio (R-FL) also advanced an analogous provision that would have applied across all of DOE’s national labs. Rubio’s original proposal was not adopted, but the final NDAA does includes a provision updating DOE’s process for screening foreign national visitors across all 17 of its national labs.

These lab access policies are not the only major research security changes in the NDAA. Another provision restricts the Department of Defense from funding fundamental research collaboration between U.S. universities and research institutions deemed by DOD to present risks of inappropriate technology transfer. DOD’s current list primarily contains institutions from China and Russia.

This news brief originally appeared in FYI’s newsletter for the week of Dec. 9.