42 U.S.C. § 2210a — Conflicts of interest relating to contracts and other arrangements

(a) Disclosure requirements. By rule, the Commission must require anyone proposing to enter a contract, agreement, or other arrangement under this chapter or another law it administers, whether by competition or negotiation, for research, development, evaluation, or technical or management support services to give the Commission, before entering it, all relevant information the Commission determines bears on whether the person may have a conflict of interest involving (1) the ability to give impartial, technically sound, or objective help or advice in light of other activities or relationships, or (2) receiving an unfair competitive advantage. Under Commission regulations, the person must ensure that each non-supply subcontractor complies with this section for a subcontract over $10,000. (b) Evaluation. (1) In general. Except as paragraph (2) provides, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission may not enter such an arrangement unless, after evaluating the subsection (a) information and other available information, it finds that (A) a conflict is unlikely, or (B) appropriate conditions have avoided it. If a conflict exists and conditions cannot avoid it, the Commission may still enter the arrangement if it finds that doing so is in the United States’ best interests and includes conditions to reduce the conflict. (2) Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Despite a conflict, the Commission may enter an arrangement with the Department of Energy or an operator of a Department of Energy facility if it finds that (A) the conflict cannot be reduced and (B) adequate justification supports proceeding without reducing it. (c) Rules. The Commission must publish implementation rules under section 553 of title 5, without regard to subsection (a)(2), as soon as practicable after November 6, 1978, and no later than 120 days after that date.