NRC, drug testing, policy and procedure, public employees, safety.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1245 appeals the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's refusal to exempt clerical, warehouse, and maintenance employees at a nuclear power plant from an industry-wide drug testing program. The union asserts that the testing is unconstitutional as applied to these employees because they do not have access to the vital areas of the plant and do not perform job duties that could compromise plant safety. The NRC contends every employee within the plant holds a safety-sensitive position. The union now appeals.

This is the first judicial review of this case.

The union loses. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the NRC's ruling. The court held that the clerical, warehouse and maintenance workers occasionally worked in safety- sensitive areas of the nuclear plant and could be tested for drugs and alcohol.