China May Have Stolen Nuke Secrets - Los Alamos

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Saturday March 6 4:18 AM ET 

China May Have Stolen Nuke Secrets - Los Alamos

NEW YORK (AP) - An investigation of nuclear secrets stolen by 
China from a U.S. laboratory was repeatedly slowed and played 
down by the federal government in favor of keeping good relations 
between the countries, The New York Times reported today.  

China's espionage at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New 
Mexico in the mid-1980s helped it develop the technology to 
miniaturize nuclear bombs, a key step toward fielding a modern 
nuclear arsenal, the newspaper said.  

By 1996, a year after the theft was discovered, investigators had 
identified a suspect working at the laboratory, where the 1940s 
Manhattan Project developed the first atomic bomb. The 
investigation also determined that China was continuing to steal 
nuclear weapons secrets from major American labs.  

But some officials claim the government pushed aside the 
investigation for policy reasons, the Times reported.

``This conflicted with their China policy,'' said a U.S. official 
speaking on condition of anonymity. ``It undercut the 
administration's efforts to have a strategic partnership with the 
Chinese.''  

The White House was told of the nuclear espionage in the summer 
of 1997, just before a U.S.-Chinese summit meeting - the first such 
meeting in eight years - which was intended to highlight the 
improvement of relations between the Clinton administration and 
Beijing.  

The White House claims that it took the spying seriously by 
ordering improved security at the labs.  

But a reconstruction by the Times shows that the response to the 
nuclear theft was marked by delays, inaction and skepticism 
throughout the government - even though some senior intelligence 
officials believed the theft was among the most damaging cases of 
espionage in recent history.  

Within a year of the discovery of the theft, investigators had 
identified the suspect working at Los Alamos. But he continued in 
his job with full security clearance for another year. To date, no 
arrests have been made.  

The espionage was not detected until 1995, when American 
experts analyzing Chinese nuclear test results found similarities to 
America's most advanced miniature warhead, the W-88.  

In the past, China's nuclear weapons were a generation behind 
American designs, largely because Beijing was unable to produce 
small warheads that could be launched from a single missile at 
multiple targets.  

The W-80 warhead is 2.6 feet long and weighs about 300 pounds. 
Several can be fit in a single missile.

By contrast, the MK 1, the first atomic bomb - ``Little Boy'' - was 
10.5 feet long, weighed 8,900 pounds and had to be dropped from a 
plane. The force of impact of the ``Little Boy'' was 15 kilotons, 
compared to the 150 kilotons of a W-80. 

------------------------
Sandy Perle
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205

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