10 U.S.C. § 6324 — Contractor liability for injury or loss of property arising out of atomic weapons testing programs

(a) Short title. This section may be called the “Atomic Energy Testing Liability Act.”

(b) Federal remedies and exclusiveness. (1) The remedies against the United States under sections 1346(b) and 2672 of title 28, or chapters 309 or 311 of title 46 when appropriate, apply to civil actions for radiation-related injury, property loss, personal injury, or death caused by a contractor’s act or omission while carrying out an atomic-weapons testing program under a United States contract. (2) Those remedies are the exclusive way to decide civil liability for any such contractor act or omission, regardless of when it occurred. For these actions, the contractor’s employees are treated as Federal Government employees under section 2671 of title 28. The action proceeds like an action against the United States under section 1346(b) and is subject to the limits and exceptions for such actions.

(c) Procedure. A contractor sued in such an action must promptly give every served process to the Attorney General. If the Attorney General certifies that the suit is covered by subsection (b), the Attorney General may remove a State-court action without bond, any time before trial, to the United States district court covering the place where it is pending. The case is treated as a tort action against the United States under sections 1346(b), 2401(b), or 2402, or sections 2671–2680 of title 28. For removal, the Attorney General’s certification conclusively establishes contractor status.

(d) Covered actions. This section applies to covered actions pending on November 5, 1990, and actions begun on or after that date. If a covered action pending on that date is dismissed because the plaintiff did not file the administrative claim required by section 2672, the plaintiff has 30 days after dismissal or two years after the claim accrued, whichever is later, to file the administrative claim. The claim and any later action are then subject to section 2401(b) of title 28.

(e) Contractor. “Contractor” includes a contractor or cost-reimbursement subcontractor at any tier participating in the United States atomic-weapons testing program for the Department of Energy or its predecessor agencies, including the Manhattan Engineer District, Atomic Energy Commission, and Energy Research and Development Administration^*. It also includes facilities that conduct or conducted research on health effects of ionizing radiation connected with the testing under a Department of Energy or predecessor-agency contract.