# Exactly what law prohibits me from possessing a functional nuclear weapon in the USA? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 1, 2014, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554 "2014-08-01T04:28:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/1 "2014-08-01T04:28:50Z")
For our hypothetical let us imagine an eccentric billionaire that has some how managed to mine some plutonium and uranium, or whatever. Said billionaire is inside the USA and acquired everything legally inside the USA(this is iffy) but roll with it. When the NSA or CIA or FBI or whoever come to seize said weapon, what law will they cite? ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/2 "2014-08-01T04:31:43Z")
I suspect that the drones and SEALs will show up first. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/3 "2014-08-01T04:38:36Z")
[18 U.S.C. § 831 - Prohibited transactions involving nuclear materials](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/831) Additionally, [42 U.S.C. § 2073 - Domestic distribution of special nuclear material](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/2073) authorizes the NRC to create licensure requirements for handling of nuclear materials. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/4 "2014-08-01T05:20:10Z")
I’m pretty sure the much-vaunted Second Amendment ought to override both of those silly statutes! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/5 "2014-08-01T06:14:53Z")
I recommend you acquire a nuclear device and make it a test case. Should make for some fascinating jurisprudence. Which you’ll have time to read in prison. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/6 "2014-08-01T06:44:41Z")
The law of the iron fist. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/7 "2014-08-01T13:15:04Z")
The Progressive Magazine went to the public library and assembled information they found there, and published a handy DIY article about how to build a nuclear device, and somehow the US government found a “law” than even violated their First Amendment freedom of the press. It’s the “born secret” law: > **[Born secret](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_secret)** > > "Born secret" and "born classified" are both terms which refer to a policy of information being classified from the moment of its inception, usually regardless of where it was created, and usually in reference to specific laws in the United States that are related to information that describes the operation of nuclear weapons. > It has been extensively used in reference to a clause in the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, which specified that all information about nuclear weapons and nuclear energy was... Basically, here’s the deal. The US Government can declare anything they want to be illegal, and prosecute under whatever pretext they like, and doing so will have force until a plaintiff succeeds in having a challenge to the edict sustained by a Federal Court order, and sometimes that doesn’t even stop the government. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/8 "2014-08-01T14:03:11Z")
Apparently, some kid attempting to build a nuclear reactor in his garage found out - the hard way. 😉 > **[David Hahn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hahn)** > > David Charles Hahn (October 30, 1976 – September 27, 2016), sometimes called the "Radioactive Boy Scout" or the "Nuclear Boy Scout", was an American nuclear radiation enthusiast who built a homemade neutron source at the age of seventeen. > A scout in the Boy Scouts of America, Hahn conducted his experiments in secret in a backyard shed at his mother's house in Commerce Township, Michigan. Hahn's goal was to build and demonstrate a homemade breeder reactor. While he never managed to build a reac... ---
**Author:** ![TheSeaOtter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed655f/32.png) [@TheSeaOtter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSeaOtter)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/9 "2014-08-01T14:38:44Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > [18 U.S.C. § 831 - Prohibited transactions involving nuclear materials](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/831) I’m not sure the OP’s hypothetical actually violates this law. It says someone is in violation if they: > [@](#): > > without lawful authority […] possess […] any nuclear material or nuclear byproduct material **and** — > (A) thereby knowingly cause the death of or serious bodily injury to any person or substantial damage to property or to the environment; or > (B) circumstances exist, or have been represented to the defendant to exist, that are likely to cause the death or serious bodily injury to any person, or substantial damage to property or to the environment; If the OP’s mad millionaire has built an nuclear bomb, they have the _capacity_ to cause death, injury and/or damage, but they haven’t actually done so, so ‘A’ doesn’t apply. ‘B’ is weird and vague, but it’s not clear to me that it applies either. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/10 "2014-08-01T15:14:13Z")
> [@TheSeaOtter](#): > > I’m not sure the OP’s hypothetical actually violates this law. It says someone is in violation if they: > If the OP’s mad millionaire has built an nuclear bomb, they have the _capacity_ to cause death, injury and/or damage, but they haven’t actually done so, so ‘A’ doesn’t apply. ‘B’ is weird and vague, but it’s not clear to me that it applies either. “B” applies if the government says it does, and gets a judge to agree. Or doesn’t ask a judge, and cites national security interests in keeping a judge out of it even if your hypothetical nuclear billionaire wants a judge involved. IANAL. I just pay attention to how the law is actually applied in areas the government has a keen interest in. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/11 "2014-08-01T15:18:38Z")
They don’t get to keep the judge out of it if they are prosecuting. At worst, they could seize your homemade bomb. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/12 "2014-08-01T16:16:01Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > The Progressive Magazine went to the public library and assembled information they found there, and published a handy DIY article about how to build a nuclear device, and somehow the US government found a “law” than even violated their First Amendment freedom of the press. > > It’s the “born secret” law: > [Born secret - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_secret) > > Basically, here’s the deal. The US Government can declare anything they want to be illegal, and prosecute under whatever pretext they like, and doing so will have force until a plaintiff succeeds in having a challenge to the edict sustained by a Federal Court order, and sometimes that doesn’t even stop the government. OR they could have saved the time and effort and bought a copy of whichever damned SF magazine it was back in the 1970s that published an article on how to turn your 2 story, attic and basement tract house into a nuke bomb - you position one hemisphere down in the basement, and drop the other half down a tube onto it from the attic as I vaguely remember. To be blunt about it, the only thing you need is the correct amount of fissionables to go critical, divided in half and formed into 2 hemispheres. You then need to put them together so the mass goes critical, and mother nature will do the rest. _cough_ [Demon Core](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_core) _cough_ - the jackass was _manually_ manipulating both halves of the core, the screwdriver slipped and the 2 halves came together, letting out a lethal [to him almost immediately] amount of radiation. It isn’t rocket science, not even close. The amount of fissionable is known, the tricky part is in getting the fissionables in the first place. Hell, I wrote a paper on the whole deal back in high school back in the late 70s myself. The only problem with plutonium is that the rods used in nuke plants produce it as a by-product. As I remember the rods used for plutonium production are pulled out and stored after being used for a short time, rather than the normal lifespan. I have no idea of knowing if the rods I walked past on a daily basis when working as a rad whore were being used for production or not. [TBH, nor do I particularly care. Not my job to worry about them, just to repair/refit the plant.] [URL=“[http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/](http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/)”] ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/13 "2014-08-01T16:58:25Z")
Actually, it’s quite a bit more difficult to create a working bomb. Even a gun-type U-235 bomb requires more engineering than just dropping two hemispheres together. An implosion-type bomb design is still out of reach of many countries, so it’s not something you are going to build in your garage… ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/14 "2014-08-01T18:28:17Z")
In Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697 (1931), the US Supreme Court held prior restraints to be unconstitutional, except in extremely limited circumstances such as national security issues. One can only assume that the national security people would perk up their ears if they heard about somebody with a nuke, and have a precedent on which to act. Then, only the fuzzy broadness of “national security” comes into play. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/15 "2014-08-01T19:40:06Z")
A prior restraint is a limit on speech, not conduct. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/16 "2014-08-01T21:10:07Z")
[42 U.S.C. 2122](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/2122): > [@](#): > > (a) It shall be unlawful, except as provided in section 2121 of this title, for any person, inside or outside of the United States, to knowingly participate in the development of, manufacture, produce, transfer, acquire, receive, possess, import, export, or use, or possess and threaten to use, any atomic weapon. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to modify the provisions of section 2051 (a) or 2131 of this title. > > (b) Conduct prohibited by subsection (a) of this section is within the jurisdiction of the United States if— > (1) the offense occurs in or affects interstate or foreign commerce; the offense occurs outside of the United States and is committed by a national of the United States; > (2) the offense is committed against a national of the United States while the national is outside the United States; > (3) the offense is committed against any property that is owned, leased, or used by the United States or by any department or agency of the United States, whether the property is within or outside the United States; or > (4) an offender aids or abets any person over whom jurisdiction exists under this subsection in committing an offense under this section or conspires with any person over whom jurisdiction exists under this subsection to commit an offense under this section. Oddly enough, I still can’t figure out what would be the _penalty_ for building your own atomic bomb. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/17 "2014-08-01T22:08:48Z")
They make you test it yourself. ---
**Author:** ![PorchePine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@PorchePine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PorchePine)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/18 "2014-08-01T22:18:46Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > [42 U.S.C. 2122](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/2122): > > Oddly enough, I still can’t figure out what would be the _penalty_ for building your own atomic bomb. Slow and painful death from radiation poisoning? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/19 "2014-08-01T22:31:07Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > They make you test it yourself. Ugh. People hate tests. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554/20 "2014-08-01T23:53:53Z")
> [@](#): > > (b)any person who violates, or attempts or conspires to violate, section 2122 of this title shall be fined not more than $2,000,000 and sentenced to a term of imprisonment not less than 25 years or to imprisonment for life. Any person who, in the course of a violation of section 2122 of this title, uses, attempts or conspires to use, or possesses and threatens to use, any atomic weapon shall be fined not more than $2,000,000 and imprisoned for not less than 30 years or imprisoned for life. If the death of another results from a person’s violation of section 2122 of this title, the person shall be fined not more than $2,000,000 and punished by imprisonment for life. 42 u.s.c. 2272. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exactly-what-law-prohibits-me-from-possessing-a-functional-nuclear-weapon-in-the-usa/694554.md?page=2)