To ensure that personnel with access to classified information do not compromise national defense and security, DOE’s operations offices may suspend security clearances. Statistical Disparities Occur in Number of Clearances Suspended for Minorities

At the locations included in our review, in various 1-year periods during fiscal year 1989 through fiscal year 1993, contractor employees from several minority groups had their security clearances suspended more often than would be expected statistically when they were compared with the majority population of the workforce. The population of contractor employees includes Asians, American Indians, African-Americans, Hispanics, and whites. Over 10,000 of those employees have security clearances. Because DOE is not required to do so, no organization in the Department collects information on the suspension of clearances by racial or ethnic group, and DOE was not aware of the statistical disparities discussed in this report. Conclusions

DOE has not been tracking the suspension of clearances by racial/ethnic group. We believe DOE needs to determine why these statistical disparities are occurring.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Energy's (DOE) security clearance program, focusing on: (1) whether racial or ethnic disparities existed among those employees who had their security clearances suspended; and (2) actions DOE needs to take to respond to these disparities.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) between fiscal years 1989 and 1993, DOE suspended 425 security clearances for contractor employees; (2) African-American, Hispanic, and American Indian contractor employees had their security clearances suspended more often than would be statistically expected when compared with the majority of the workforce; (3) DOE was not aware of the statistical disparities because it did not monitor or track the suspension of clearances by racial/ethnic group; and (4) DOE needs to further evaluate why disparities in security clearances are occurring to ensure that discrimination is not occurring.