Q clearance

Encyclopedia : Q : QC : QCL : Q clearance

Q clearance is a United States Department of Energy (DOE) security clearance equivalent to a United States Department of Defense Top Secret (TS) clearance. DOE clearances apply for access specifically relating to atomic or nuclear related materials. The clearance is issued to non-military personnel only.

As of 1993, Q clearances required a "single-scope background investigation" of the previous ten years of the applicants life by both the Office of Personnel Management and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and cost $3,225.William Burr, Thomas S. Blanton, and Stephen I. Schwartz, "The Costs and Consequences of Nuclear Secrecy" in Stephen I. Schwartz, ed., Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of US Nuclear Weapons Since 1940 (Brookings Institution Press, 1998): 433-483; figures from Box 8-4, "Typical Costs of Security Investigations", on 461.

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