Q clearance is a United States Department of Energy

United States Department of Energy

The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...

 (DOE) security clearance

Security clearance

A security clearance is a status granted to individuals allowing them access to classified information, i.e., state secrets, or to restricted areas after completion of a thorough background check. The term "security clearance" is also sometimes used in private organizations that have a formal...

 equivalent to a United States Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

 Top Secret  (TS) clearance and Critical Nuclear Weapon Design Information

Critical Nuclear Weapon Design Information

Critical Nuclear Weapon Design Information is a U.S. Department of Defense category of Top Secret Restricted Data or Secret Restricted Data that reveals the theory of operation or design of the components of a thermonuclear or fission bomb, warhead, demolition munition, or test device...

 (CNWDI). DOE clearances apply for access specifically relating to atomic or nuclear related materials ("Restricted Data" under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954

Atomic Energy Act of 1954

The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 42 U.S.C. § 2011 et seq., is a United States federal law that is, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, "the fundamental U.S...

). The clearance is issued to non-military personnel only. In 1946 U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps Major Bud Uanna

Bud Uanna

William Lewis "Bud" Uanna was a United States security expert. Uanna held many top security positions, and was a security officer on the Manhattan Project and later Chief of the Division of Physical Security at the U.S...

, in his capacity as the first Chief of the Central Personnel Clearance Office at the newly formed Atomic Energy Commission

Atomic Energy Commission

Many countries have or have had an Atomic Energy Commission. These include:* Australian Atomic Energy Commission * Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission * Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique...

 named and established the criteria for the Q Clearance.

, Q clearances required a single-scope background investigation

Single Scope Background Investigation

A Single Scope Background Investigation is a type of United States security clearance investigation required for Top Secret, SCI and Q access, and involves agents contacting employers, coworkers and other individuals...

 of the previous ten years of the applicant's life by both the Office of Personnel Management

Office of Personnel Management

The United States Office of Personnel Management is an independent agency of the United States government that manages the civil service of the federal government. The current Director is John Berry.-History:...

 and the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Bureau of Investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...

, and cost $3,225.

In popular culture

"Q" Clearance was a 1986 novel by Peter Benchley

Peter Benchley

Peter Bradford Benchley was an American author, best known for his novel Jaws and its subsequent film adaptation, the latter co-written by Benchley and directed by Steven Spielberg...

 (Random House, ISBN 0-394-55360-8), satirizing Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

secrecy and politics.