Restricted Data

Restricted Data (RD) is a category of proscribed information, per National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM). Specifically, it is defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 as:

The concept was initially introduced, with similar wording, in the Atomic Energy Act of 1946. The fact that its legal definition includes "all data" except that already specifically declassified has been interpreted to mean that atomic energy information in the United States is born classified, even if it was not created by any agency of the U.S. government. The authority of the DOE to implement this authority as a form of prior restraint was only once tested in court, with inconclusive results.