• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

The Honorable Bill Richardson
Secretary 
Department Of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C.  20585

Dear Mr. Secretary:

           I am writing to convey my grave concern about revelations today that the Department of Energy has sold an Intel Paragon XPS supercomputer to a Chinese national who specializes in exporting advanced U.S. good to Beijing. 

           According to Insight Magazine, in October Sandia National Laboratory officials sold as surplus an Intel Paragon XPS supercomputer with a capability between 150,000 and 200,000 million theoretical operations per second (MTOPS) -- one of the United States' most capable supercomputers operating today.

          The national security ramifications of this sale are disastrous.  As you are well aware, 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.  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.  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.

           The problem is magnified because we are currently unaware of what the computer was used for at Sandia National Laboratory.  There is a very real possibility, in my opinion, that nuclear secrets may be stored on the system's hard drive.  Even with a wipe of the supercomputers memory, much of the information that was stored on the system can be retrieved using advanced techniques.

           During your recent visits to Capitol Hill, you have assured Members and testified that lab security problems preceded your tenure and that you had taken steps to prevent diversion of technology.  This latest incident confirms the PFIAB report that it is "business at usual" at the labs and the security problems persist. 

           I am curious as to when you were first made aware of the sale of this supercomputer.  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.  

           Either way, you have lost the confidence of myself and many Members of Congress.  If these revelations are true, then -- for the sake of our country and national security -- I must regrettably ask for your resignation.  

Sincerely,

CURT WELDON
Member of Congress
 

CW:ptp