Nuclear regulation

Technical Report · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:7260915

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission routinely waives its background investigation requirements for new hires. NRC security staff estimate that 99 percent of new employees are hired before they receive a security clearance. They say waivers are used because the Office of Personnel and Management takes too long to conduct the required background investigations. NRC policies do not require reinvestigation of the background of nearly 50 percent of its clearance holders. Therefore, NRC does not know whether circumstances in some employees' lifestyle have changed, making them security risks. Also, NRC does not have accurate clearance information to effectively manage its program. For example, its computerized system does not have all the data needed to determine when reinvestigations should be requested. This report proposes that, to enhance security and improve the effectiveness of its clearance program NRC should require periodic reinvestigations for all employees, validate and update the security clearance database, and expedite a decision to issue either a policy statement or a regulation regarding access to commercial nuclear power plants.

• Research Organization: General Accounting Office, Washington, DC (USA). Resources, Community and Economic Development Div.
• OSTI ID: 7260915
• Report Number(s): GAO/RCED-89-41
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
290600* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Nuclear Energy
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES
DATA BASE MANAGEMENT
INVESTIGATIONS
MANAGEMENT
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
PERSONNEL
RISK ASSESSMENT
SECURITY
US NRC
US ORGANIZATIONS