Clearances
DOE and other federal employees and contractor employees hold about 220,000 clearances. DOE employees hold about 4 percent of the total; contractor employees, about 93 percent; and other government agencies and congressional staff, the remaining 3 percent. DOE issues five levels of clearances:
Q Sensitive allow access to Special Nuclear Material (SNM) category 1. An employee with a Q sensitive clearance could have access to nuclear weapons design, manufacture, or use data; disclosure could cause exceptionally grave damage to the nation.
Q Nonsensitive allow access to Special Nuclear Material (SNM) category 2. The higher the SNM category, the more readily the material could be converted to a nuclear explosive device. Categories 1 and 2 require special protection, such as armed guards.
L clearances allow access to Secret National Security Information and to Special Nuclear Material (SNM) categories 3 and 4, but not to Secret Restricted Data or SNM categories 1 and 2. Persons with L clearance may have access only to Confidential RD but may have access to both Confidential and Secret FRD and NSI. For an L clearance, the background investigation of a person is much less extensive – hence much cheaper and quicker – than for a Q. The two clearances do, however, require the same standards of personal conduct. Anything turned up by an investigation that would cause a Q to be denied would also cause denial of an L.
Top Secret An employee with a secret clearance could have access to weapons-related National Security Information; disclosure of this information could cause exceptionally grave damage to the nation.
Secret An employee with a secret clearance could have access to weapons-related National Security Information; disclosure of this information could result in serious damage to the nation.
The heart of DOE'S clearance program is the process by which DOE grants, continues, and revokes clearances. Before granting a clearance, either the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) or the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducts background investigations of applicants in accordance with standards prescribed in Executive Order 10450. DOE then reviews the results to determine whether applicants are trustworthy and eligible for a clearance. These organizations may also investigate the backgrounds of current clearance holders if DOE becomes aware of information that raises questions about the holders' trustworthiness. If DOE decides not to grant a new clearance or revoke an existing one, the applicant or employee may ask to have DOE'S decision reviewed through DOE'S extensive administrative review process.
Until 1993, essentially every weapons laboratory employee had a Q clearance.These facilities worked for more than 40 years with the assumption that everyone who has access to it has a Q clearance. One of the sticky points of the change is L-cleared persons' access to technical areas. Two major areas of concern are protecting secure computer networks and Secret Restricted Data matter-documents and material. Changes will be required both in facilities and procedures before DOE will approve L-cleared persons being in technical areas without escorts. The downgrading of clearance levels is part of a much broader movement in the DOE complex. The same thing is happening for DOE employees and for contractors at other DOE facilities. Eventually a significant percentage of weapons laboratory staff – approximately 30 percent – will have L instead of Q clearances.
https://fas.org/sgp/classdoe.htm