Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., has called for the resignation of Energy
Secretary Bill Richardson, following news that the agency sold a surplus
supercomputer to a Chinese national.
In a letter to Richardson dated July 23, Weldon called “disastrous”
the sale of a Intel Paragon XPS to a Chinese national known to be an
exporter of such goods to Beijing. The supercomputer — capable of
150,000 and 200,000 million theoretical operations per second (MTOPS) —
was sold in October 1998 by officials at the Sandia National Laboratory
while other questionable technology transfers to China were being
investigated.
“Ironically, at the very time the Cox Committee was investigating the
transfer of sensitive technology to China, your employees were selling
some of our most sophisticated systems to them at bargain basement
prices,” Weldon said. “If this computer is transferred out of country,
the capability it will provide to the Chinese in their efforts to
improve their nuclear weapons capability are enormous.”
“In my opinion, this could be one of the most significant breaches of
national security on this Administration’s watch,” he added.
The Pennsylvania congressman, who is a member of the House Armed
Services and House Science Committees, as well as a member of the Cox
Committee examining the alleged illegal technology transfers to China,
reminded Richardson that the “transfer of high-performance computers in
the 2000 to 7000 MTOPS range to China is a serious issue raised by
Congress as early as 1997.”
A spokesman for Weldon told WorldNetDaily that one of the most
alarming aspects about the sale is the uncertainty surrounding the
computer’s original use.
“Nobody knows yet,” said Michael Barberra, a spokesman for Weldon.
“There is a real possibility that some nuclear secrets may be stored on
the computer’s hard drive.” He said a cursory erasure of the system’s
hard drive before the sale “would not guarantee” that sensitive
information couldn’t be retrieved later “using advanced techniques.”
In recent months Richardson has testified that most of the security
problems encountered at the nation’s weapons labs preceded his
administration, but nonetheless “steps had been taken to ensure” that
security was tightened.
But Weldon said the sale of the Paragon system confirmed “it is
‘business at usual’ at the labs and the security problems persist.”
The Department of Energy did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Weldon raised the possibility that Richardson may even have known
about the sale of the supercomputer before testifying that all was well
at the nuclear labs earlier this year.
“I am curious as to when you were first made aware of the sale of
this supercomputer,” he said in his letter. “If you knew about the sale
of this supercomputer and intentionally misled the American people and
Members of Congress, you have betrayed the trust of this nation.”
“If you were unaware of this sale, it shows you to be completely out
of the loop and renders you unfit to oversee the Department of Energy,”
Weldon said.
“Either way, you have lost the confidence of myself and many Members
of Congress,” he wrote, adding, “for the sake of our country and
national security — I must regrettably ask for your resignation.”
