Q clearance
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Q clearance is a United States Department of Energy (DOE) security clearance equivalent to a United States Department of Defense Top Secret (TS) clearance + Critical Nuclear Weapon Design Information (CNWDI).[1] DOE clearances apply for access specifically relating to atomic or nuclear related materials ("Restricted Data" under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954). 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 applicant's life by both the Office of Personnel Management and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and cost $3,225.[2]
In popular culture
"Q" Clearance was a 1986 novel by Peter Benchley (Random House, ISBN 0-394-55360-8), satirizing Cold War secrecy and politics.
References
- ^ Security | UK-USA Classification Equivalency Table | Los Alamos National Laboratory
- ^ 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.