https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-second-china-spy-probe
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-china-stole-nuke-secrets
Transcripts below:
Report: China Stole Nuke Secrets
By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff
March 5, 1999 / 7:00 PM EST / CBS
Sources tell CBS News that China was able to “recruit” scientists from the Department of Energy labs responsible for the U.S. nuclear weapons program. A classified congressional report confirms China obtained design information for the W-88 warhead.
CBS News Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports that the W-88 is America’s most sophisticated nuclear weapon: a precise, small warhead used on Trident-2 submarine-launched missiles.
There’s no evidence that the Chinese have so far been able to build any weapons based on this espionage, but the W-88 is smaller and much more advanced than the nuclear weapons China has relied on for decades.
CBS News has reported that the congressional report concluded that the theft of the warhead data was the most serious of many security breaches involving China in the last 20 years.
The FBI is still investigating exactly how China obtained the information on the W-88.
Congressional sources say there are still serous security problems at the labs and are fighting to declassify their report. On Friday, the White House disputed that assertion, saying it has tightened security at the weapons labs.
The Clinton administration is pushing to keep much of it secret, citing national security concerns.
Second Report:
A Second China Spy Probe
By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff
March 8, 1999 / 5:27 PM EST / CBS
CBS News has learned there is yet another top-secret investigation of Chinese nuclear espionage. This case involves the theft of information about America’s neutron weapons program from the Lawrence Livermore Weapons Lab, CBS News Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports.
It’s a separate case from the one involving nuclear secrets stolen from Los Alamos Weapons Lab and America’s W-88 nuclear warhead. The neutron case has been under investigation for several years, and remains active and unsolved.
The U.S. has conducted tests, but there are no neutron weapons in the U.S. arsenal.
Sources tell CBS News it’s further proof of China’s aggressive – and successful – espionage efforts targeting America’s nuclear weapons labs.
In the W-88 case, Energy Department officials allege that Wen Ho Lee, a government computer scientist fired for alleged security violations, was involved in passing nuclear secrets to China, including design plans for the sophisticated nuclear warhead.
Law enforcement sources have told CBS News they believe the real culprits are still unidentified and possibly still working at the weapons labs.
Congress is planning an investigation of the security breaches.
“Unquestionably there are problems that remain at the national laboratories that need to be addressed – and urgently so,” said Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., who has written a classified report on Chinese espionage.
