42 U.S.C. § 16012 — Prohibition on assumption by United States Government of liability for certain foreign incidents

(a) Generally Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no officer of the United States or of any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government may enter into any contract or other arrangement, or into any amendment or modification of a contract or other arrangement, the purpose or effect of which would be to directly or indirectly impose liability on the United States Government, or any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government, or to otherwise directly or indirectly require an indemnity by the United States Government, for nuclear incidents occurring in connection with the design, construction, or operation of a production facility or utilization facility in any country whose government has been identified by the Secretary^* of State^* as engaged in state sponsorship of terrorist activities (specifically including any country the government of which, as of September 11, 2001 , had been determined by the Secretary of State under section 2371(a) of title 22 , section 4605(j)(1) of title 50, or section 2780(d) of title 22 to have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism). This section must not apply to nuclear incidents occurring as a result of missions, carried out under the direction of the Secretary, the Secretary of Defense, or the Secretary of State, that are necessary to safely secure, store, transport, or remove nuclear materials for nuclear safety or nonproliferation purposes. (b) Definitions The terms used in this section must have the same meaning as those terms have under section 2014 of this title , unless otherwise expressly provided in this section.