China: Suspected Acquisition of U.S. Nuclear Weapon Secrets

CRS-19
Richardson said on December 2, 1999, that he would begin to issue such waivers for
foreign scientists, in order to “restore the proper balance between security and
science.” 54
National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). 55 In May 1999,
Senators Kyl, Murkowski, and Domenici drafted an amendment to the Defense
Authorization bill (S. 1059) to create a new agency within DOE, but Senate leaders
removed the language on May 27 after Secretary Richardson threatened to
recommend a Presidential veto. 56 The Administration, represented by Richardson,
opposed the Senators’ proposal, saying it would undermine his authority and create
a new “fiefdom.” 57 A critic of the proposal wrote that “DOE is indeed a
dysfunctional bureaucracy, but the labs are not better. Making the labs more
autonomous is the wrong way to go.” 58 Other opponents said that the labs needed to
retain openness in order to advance scientific research important to national security.
On the other side, the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB),
chaired by former Senate Warren Rudman, recommended, on June 15, 1999, a new
Agency for Nuclear Stewardship (ANS) and argued that semi-autonomous or
independent “organizations like NASA [National Aeronautics and Space
Administration] and DARPA [Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency] have
advanced scientific and technological progress while maintaining a respectable
record of security.” 59 Secretary Richardson agreed with the PFIAB that DOE’s
organizational structure required serious change but expressed “strong reservations”
about the recommendation for a semi-independent or independent agency. 60
On June 7,1999, Representative Thornberry introduced H.R. 2032 to establish
a Nuclear Security Administration in the Department of Energy. Some Members also
looked at introducing language to reorganize DOE in the Senate Intelligence
Authorization bill for FY2000 (S. 1009).
On July 7, 1999, however, Secretary Richardson agreed to the proposal to set
up a new ANS, as long as it would be a semi-autonomous agency within DOE, under
54 Pincus, Walter, “Energy Chief to Allow Foreign Scientists to Visit Labs,” Washington
Post, December 3, 1999.
55 For later consideration by the 108 th Congress of improvements in counterintelligence, see
CRS Report RL31883, Counterintelligence Reform at the Department of Energy: Policy
Issues and Organizational Alternatives, by Alfred Cumming.
56 Congressional Quarterly, June 19, 1999, p. 1475-76.
57 Congressional Quarterly, June 26, 1999, p. 1559-60.
58 Eldredge, Maureen (director of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, a watchdog group
on DOE), “Don’t Trust Our Nuclear Labs,” Washington Post, June 28, 1999.
59 President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, Special Investigative Panel, Science at
its Best, Security at its Worst: A Report on Security Problems at the U.S. Department of
Energy, unclassified, June 1999. Also called the Rudman Report.
60 DOE, “Statement by Secretary of Energy Richardson on the President’s Foreign
Intelligence Advisory Board Report,” June 15, 1999.