PSH-23-0017 - In the Matter of Personnel Security Hearing

On April 14, 2023, an Administrative Judge (AJ) determined that the Individual's access authorization under 10 C.F.R. Part 710 should not be restored.

The Individual had attended three alcohol treatment programs. The Individual also had a history of repeated treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD) and relapse. A DOE Psychologist evaluated the Individual and diagnosed her with AUD and concluded that she was neither reformed or rehabilitated.

The AJ found that the Individual had also failed to report her treatment for AUD in 2018 to the LSO as required by DOE Order 472.2. He further found that her testimony that she was unaware of this requirement lacks credibility because he found it difficult to believe that an individual as accomplished and intelligent as the Individual would not have recalled a requirement that she had been officially informed of during several annual security refresher briefings. The AJ further noted that the Individual had repeatedly failed to report her enrollment in the IOP, which ended in her being discharged from that program after testing positive on two urine alcohol tests and failing to attend a scheduled treatment session. Taken together, the AJ found, that those facts suggest that the Individual was deliberately concealing the true extent of her alcohol issues from the LSO.

The AJ further found that Individual had consumed alcohol less than three months before the hearing, which he found to be an insufficient period of time to demonstrate that her AUD has been resolved and that her alcohol consumption is unlikely to recur.

The Administrative Judge therefore concluded that the Individual's access authorization should not be restored. (OHA Case No. PSH-23-0017, Fine)