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DOE admits nuclear theft
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March 8, 1999: 8:53 p.m. ET
Energy agency fires computer scientist; GOP criticizes lax security
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WASHINGTON (CNNfn) - The Department of Energy confirmed Monday that nuclear weapons secrets were stolen from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and CNN has learned the agency fired the chief suspect in the espionage case.
"We don't know the extent of the full damage," said Bill Richardson, the energy secretary. "It is serious, but the FBI and our law enforcement people at Los Alamos are pursuing this vigorously."
As recently as Friday, the suspect had been working as a computer scientist at Los Alamos, a government weapons laboratory in New Mexico that conducts nuclear research. Two senior government officials said the former Energy Department employee is strongly suspected of conveying information to the Chinese.
But the government is "a very long way from being able to charge him, if ever," one official said.
In the meantime, the Senate Intelligence Committee vowed to hold hearings into allegations of lax security dating back to the mid-1980s at the nuclear laboratory, and the Clinton administration promised its full cooperation.
Republican leaders in Congress criticized the Clinton administration for possibly jeopardizing national security by reacting slowly.
"This instance is clearly one where throughout the '90s, there was information that this was happening and it should have been dealt with; it was not dealt with," said Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, who predicted a "very aggressive" investigation.
Small, advanced nuclear bomb
The subject of all this scrutiny is a small, advanced nuclear bomb called the W-88, which is deployed on U.S. submarines and multiple-warhead missiles.
The W-88 packs more than 30 times the destructive power than the "Little Boy" bomb that hit Hiroshima at the end of World War II. And because of its compact design, it can be delivered in clusters by advanced missiles.
For the Chinese, information about such advanced weapons could mean a quantum leap in their military capabilities. For decades, the Beijing regime has had crude "citybuster" nuclear bombs - an arsenal numbering perhaps 500 bombs. One such warhead is believed to be mounted on each of China's dozen-and-a-half intercontinental ballistic missiles.
By comparison, the United States has a nuclear arsenal of more than 10,000 warheads, including an estimated 400 W-88s, and more than 3,500 nuclear-capable missiles.
"The W-88 is really relevant to the intercontinental ballistic missiles," said James Mulvenon, a China military analyst at Rand Corp., "but certainly they would be able to glean a tremendous amount about building miniaturized warheads for the intermediate, medium and short-range missiles, so I'm sure there will be some sort of a spin-off effect for getting this advanced technology."
China denies stealing secrets
Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan Sunday denied reports his government stole U.S. nuclear secrets, calling the allegations "without basis."
Jiaxuan, who spoke at a news conference in Beijing, was responding to allegations reported in the New York Times and Newsweek magazine over the weekend.
But U.S. officials said Chinese attempts at espionage come as no surprise.
"We have no illusions about China an d will continue to operate with the expectation that China, like many other countries, will seek to acquire sensitive information and technology for military uses," said James Rubin, a State Department spokesman.
The United States became aware of the espionage 1995, officials have said, and security experts began to fear that the Chinese had put the stolen technology to work after an underground nuclear test in 1996, which seemed to bear telltale signs characteristic of the W-88.
Fearful of damaging trade?
Republicans charged that the Clinton administration dragged its feet in pursuing the investigation to avoid escalating tensions with Beijing, always a prickly relationship but also one of the largest U.S. trading partners.
Senate leader Lott, R-Miss., called the case "just another example of where the administration apparently is more interested in engagement (with China) than they are what's happening in that engagement."
The administration said it has the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Los Alamos law enforcement all looking into the case.
As for the suspect, officials say it may be difficult to make a case against him. There is very little tangible evidence, and "unless you have a paper trail," such cases are hard to prove.
The suspect did fail a polygraph test, sources told CNN, but while such information is useful to officials, it is not admissible in court.
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