The reduction would be achieved, the department said, by the narrowing the range of information that would require mandatory screening prior to being accessed. The proposed regulations would also result in a dramatic reduction in the number of employees who would be subject to mandatory screening, from potentially 20,000 to about 4,500, according to the Energy Department.
Noting that the number of workers expected to be subject to random tests is "small," the Energy Department said it plans to create a random test program that would be applied to the "minimum" number of people while still serving the deterrence goal. One of the main goals of the random tests is "deterrence" against "damaging disclosures" by employees whose level of access to sensitive information did not warrant mandatory polygraph testing, the department said. Those who could be subject to the random tests include personnel with access to classified nuclear weapons-related information, according to a notice published Jan. The Energy Department is considering administering random polygraph tests to some personnel as part of new counterintelligence regulations proposed this month.