The U.S. Energy Department has been funding Russian research institutes working on nuclear projects in Iran, two Democratic lawmakers charged on Wednesday.
The U.S. Energy Department has been funding Russian research institutes working on nuclear projects in Iran, two Democratic lawmakers charged on Wednesday.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich., and Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich, said that they had received documents describing the activities of two such Russian institutes. The DOE program that funds the groups aims to prevent underemployed or unemployed weapons of mass destruction scientists from selling their knowledge to terrorist organizations or countries that pose a concern to the U.S.
"DOE's funding of Russian institutes working on the Buhsher reactor in Iran is questionable policy," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, who is to testify before the committee on Thursday on the department's fiscal 2009 budget. "This activity enables the transfer of dual-use technologies, training, and the potential for latent proliferation emerging from a civilian nuclear program."
An Energy Department spokesperson referred calls to officials in the National Nuclear Security Administration. An NNSA spokesman said in a statement that "we are confident that none of the projects cited by the House committee, or any of the department's scientist engagement projects with Russia, support nuclear work in Iran. In coordination with other U.S. government agencies, we take all measures necessary to ensure that neither money nor technology falls into the hands of countries of concern."
The NNSA funds 100 projects at institutes in Russia and other former Soviet Union countries, the lawmakers said, asking for information about the number of Russian institutes supporting Iran's nuclear program.
The two lawmakers said that a PowerPoint presentation by one of the Russian institutes describes its work on automated nuclear reactor control systems for Buhsher and other plants. A PowerPoint presentation by the other Russian institute describes its work installing hundreds of circulation pumps and ventilation equipment at the same Iranian reactor, the lawmakers said.
The lawmakers want a list of all Russian institutes that are or have been funded by the Energy Department's Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention program. They also seek a list of all Russian scientists who are or were funded by the program.
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