The Department of Energy’s watchdog found no evidence that personnel at the Office of Secure Transport abused their administrative leave in a recent investigation. 

The DOE Inspector General received allegations in March that Office of Secure Transport (OST) – the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) internal paramilitary force tasked with transporting nuclear weapons and material throughout the United States – employees were using their administrative leave outside prescribed guidelines. 

The complaints included OST couriers being “granted more administrative leave hours than allowed for reasons that did not meet regulatory guidelines, and a former OST Courier worked outside employment while on administrative leave,” the DOE Inspector General found. 

Also alleged was that prior to NNSA’s 2019 timecard review, OST couriers were “tricking” the Automated Time Attendance and Production System by canceling leave to prevent paid overtime. An employee also allegedly used their government travel card to purchase materials needed to build a fence at their house, the report said.

While those allegations were not substantiated, the investigation did find OST allowed employees to use “extended periods of administrative leave hours that, although this practice is in accordance with the regulatory guidelines, raised concerns.”

“With respect to the allegation that OST officers were canceling leave in the Automated Time Attendance and Production System, we confirmed with the complainant that this was no longer a valid concern based on actions taken because of an NNSA 2019 timecard review,” the investigation found. “Lastly, we did not substantiate that an employee used their government travel card to purchase materials needed to build a fence at their home.”

There are no outstanding issues that need to be addressed following the inspector general investigation, the report said. The agency made no recommendations and did not request NNSA feedback.