Nuclear Reactors 353 - China General Nuclear Power Company And U.S. Nuclear Engineer Charged With Illegal Transfer Of U.S. Nuclear Information
The China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) is one of two Chinese state-owned companies. It operates nuclear power plants, solar power installations, wind power installations and hydroelectric plants in China. CGN is a major player in the energy industry in China and has been adapting French pressurized water reactor designs to create a Chinese reactor called the Hualong One. This design is being used to construct the majority of the new reactors being built in China.
China is also pushing for foreign sales of the Hualong One to compete with reactor designs being sold by Russia, France and Japan. China is investing in being a major exporter of nuclear technology with plans to build more than thirty nuclear reactors in Asia and Europe by 2030. China is involved in financing a massive nuclear project involving two French designed reactors in Britain at Hinkley Point. One of the conditions for Chinese involvement is permission to build a demonstration Hualong One in Britain.
Allen (Szuhsiung) Ho is a U.S. nuclear engineer who holds dual Chinese and American citizenships. He was employed by CGN in China. In the U.S., he was owner of a Delaware company named Energy Technology International. In an indictment unsealed Thursday in Tennessee, he was accused of recruiting a team of U.S. nuclear experts in order to help CGN design and build reactors in China. They were recruited to give technical assistance to CGN with respect to CGN's small modular reactor projects, advanced nuclear fuel design, as well as "verification and validation of nuclear reactor-related computer codes."
The U.S. Atomic Energy Act provides a method to authorize nuclear experts in the U.S. to help develop nuclear technology outside of the U.S. The new indictment against Ho claims that Ho never applied for the proper authorization. CGN is also named as a conspirator in the indictment.
Ho is accused of disregarding the authorization process and recruiting nuclear experts through his U.S. company beginning in 1997. One of the experts is an employee of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Other unnamed engineers working for other unnamed nuclear power companies were recruited from South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Colorado. Although the technological expertise that Ho was recruiting was intended for civilian use and not classified military information, it was still illegal for him to recruit without the permission of the U.S. government. Ho is also charged with the general crime of acting as the agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. Attorney General which is required by U.S. federal law.
In 2009, Ho communicated with a nuclear expert and said " China has the budget to spend.... They want to bypass the research stage and go directly to the final design and manufacturing phase." China has often been accused of stealing the technology of companies in other countries for internal use. In one case, the manuals given out with network routers were just photocopies of a U.S. technology company that made similar network routers.
If Ho is convicted on the two charges, he could face life in prison and a fine of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. As the prosecution of Ho proceeds, it will be interesting to see if CGN pays a price for its blatant theft of U.S. nuclear expertise.
