[ RadSafe ] Russian nuclear scientist arrested in Switzerland

[Gerry Blackwood]

Russian nuclear scientist arrested in Switzerland

ISN SECURITY WATCH (04/05/05) - Former Russian nuclear energy minister Yevgeny Adamov was arrested in Switzerland on Monday at the request of US authorities, who accuse him of stealing up to US$9 million in aid provided by Washington to help Russia improve nuclear safety.

The Swiss Justice Ministry said on Wednesday that Adamov would be
extradited to the US on a warrant accusing him of diverting money
provided by the US Department of Energy to several US companies he
controls. Adamov's chief lawyer, Lanny Breuer of Washington, called the accusations "baseless", The New York Times reported on Wednesday. Breuer said Adamov faced many years in a US prison if convicted. According to the daily, Adamov had arrived in Bern to confer with Swiss officials who had blocked bank accounts belonging to his daughter.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that the charges
against Adamov were related to his commercial activities before he
assumed the cabinet post in 1998.

Adamov is Russia's leading nuclear physicist. Before his three-year
stint in the government, he headed a research institute that designs
nuclear reactors. He was removed from his post in a sweeping overhaul of the cabinet by Russian President Vladimir Putin a year after Putin's election in 2000.

It is not the first time that Adamov has been under scrutiny for his
financial activities. In 2001, the Russian parliament's
anti-corruption committee accused him of secretly controlling firms at home and abroad while serving as minister. In 2002, US authorities launched a probe into one such consulting firm, called Omeka and registered in Pennsylvania. The firm served as a mediator in a US-Russian project in which a US company was buying weapons-grade uranium stripped from Russian warheads. At that time, Adamov's
ministry was overseeing price negotiations between Russia and the US
company. 

Adamov has consistently denied the allegations against him, saying he was being punished for shrugging off US objections to Russia's hand in building a nuclear plant in Bushehr, Iran.
US officials have expressed concern that the technology could be used by Iran to develop nuclear weapons. The construction of the Bushehr plant was recently completed, and Russia plans to begin shipments of nuclear fuel to the plant in the coming weeks.
(By Nabi Abdullaev in Moscow)




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