DOE will maintain, for public inspection in an electronic format, the materials which are required by 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(2) to be made available for public inspection and copying. An electronic public reading room can be accessed via www.energy.gov and nnsa.energy.gov.

Contractor records. (1) When a contract with DOE provides that any records acquired or generated by the contractor in its performance of the contract shall be the property of the Government, DOE will make available to the public such records that are in the possession of the Government or the contractor, unless the records are exempt from public disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552(b).

Notwithstanding paragraph (b)(1) of this section, records owned by the Government under contract that contain information or technical data having commercial value as defined in paragraph (b)(4) of this section or information for which the contractor claims a privilege recognized under Federal or State law shall be made available only when they are in the possession of the Government and not otherwise exempt under 5 U.S.C. 552(b).

The policies stated in this paragraph:

Do not affect or alter contractors' obligations to provide to DOE upon request any records that DOE owns under contract, or DOE's rights under contract to obtain any contractor records and to determine their disposition, including public dissemination; and

Will be applied by DOE to maximize public disclosure of records that pertain to concerns about the environment, public health or safety, or employee grievances.

For purposes of paragraph (b)(2) of this section, “technical data and information having commercial value” means technical data and related commercial or financial information which is generated or acquired by a contractor and possessed by that contractor, and whose disclosure the contractor certifies to DOE would cause competitive harm to the commercial value or use of the information or data.