§ 831 – Prohibited Transactions Involving Nuclear Materials

18 U.S.C. § 831 – Prohibited Transactions Involving Nuclear Materials

Section 831 criminalizes a wide range of conduct involving nuclear material and nuclear byproduct material.

It is one of the federal government’s primary tools for addressing nuclear terrorism, theft, coercion, and cross-border nuclear threats.

This statute is intentionally expansive and treaty-driven. It reaches possession, movement, theft, threats, and coercive use of nuclear material—whether or not an actual detonation or release occurs.

Core prohibited conduct.
If one of the jurisdictional circumstances in subsection (c) exists, a person violates § 831 by knowingly or intentionally:

• Receiving, possessing, using, transferring, altering, disposing of, or dispersing nuclear material without lawful authority
• Engaging in conduct that causes or is likely to cause death, serious bodily injury, or substantial property or environmental damage
• Stealing or fraudulently obtaining nuclear material or nuclear byproduct material
• Moving nuclear material into or out of a country without authorization
• Using force, threats, fear, or intimidation to obtain nuclear material
• Threatening to use nuclear material to cause death, injury, or major damage
• Threatening or acting to compel a person, government, or international organization to act or refrain from acting

Attempts and conspiracies are expressly criminalized, even if the underlying harm never occurs.

Jurisdiction is extremely broad.
Federal jurisdiction exists if, among other things:

• The offense occurs in the United States or U.S. special jurisdictions
• The offender or victim is a U.S. national or U.S. legal entity
• The defendant is later found in the United States
• The conduct involves international transport of nuclear material where the U.S. is a shipment origin or destination
• The offense occurs on U.S.-flag vessels or aircraft
• The conduct targets U.S. government property or seeks to coerce the United States

This makes § 831 fully extraterritorial in practice.

Penalties.
The exposure under § 831 is severe:

• Life imprisonment or any term of years if death results or extreme indifference causes death or serious injury
• Up to 20 years imprisonment in other substantive cases
• Up to 20 years for certain conspiracies, or 10 years for lower-tier conspiracy offenses
• Fines under Title 18

Military and armed conflict exclusions.
The statute does not apply to:

• Lawful activities of armed forces during armed conflict
• Official acts of a state’s military forces

Defense Department involvement.
Section 831 explicitly authorizes Department of Defense assistance to civilian law enforcement—including arrests and searches—during emergency situations involving nuclear threats.

Why this statute matters.
Section 831 is not charged casually. When it appears, the government is alleging conduct at the highest level of national security risk. It is commonly paired with terrorism statutes, WMD provisions, and international conspiracy charges.

View the full statute here.

If you’re being investigated or charged under a federal nuclear materials statute, call (314) 900-HELP or contact our federal criminal defense attorneys immediately.