scientists decry ‘spy’ verdict for russian physicist

Post on 21-Jul-2016

215 Views

Category:

Documents

1 Downloads

Preview:

Click to see full reader

TRANSCRIPT

Bryon MacWilliams,MoscowA Russian physicist has been sentenced to 14 years in prison after a retrial found himguilty of passing classified information toChina. The verdict has been derided byscientists and human-rights observers.

Valentin Danilov admitted sellingaerospace technology to a Chinese companyin 1999, when he was head of the Institute of Thermodynamics at Krasnoyarsk StateTechnical University in Siberia.

In 2001, he was arrested by the FederalSecurity Service (FSB), who said his device tomeasure the effects of electromagnetic waveson satellites could help China to developweapons that might threaten Russia.

But Danilov, with the public backing of prominent members of the RussianAcademy of Sciences, countered that the

technology was declassified in 1992 and thatdetails of it had, in fact, been published inscientific journals. At least one of thesepublications is still openly available today.

The FSB has accused several scientistsand environmentalists of espionage inrecent years — something that human-rights groups refer to as “spy mania”.But last year, in a startling setback for the agency, a jury sided with Danilov and acquitted him of all charges.

Prosecutors successfully appealed theverdict on procedural grounds and won asecond trial. During this one, jurors werepermitted to decide only whether Danilovhad provided the information, and notwhether it constituted spying. That decisionwas left to Judge Andrei Afanasyev of theKrasnoyarsk Regional Court, who

ruled that the data were indeed secret.The 24 November verdict was questioned

by Eduard Kruglyakov, deputy head of theBudker Institute of Nuclear Physics inNovosibirsk, who said that the judge hadrefused to consider written testimony fromRussian physicists in relevant subdisciplines.

Afanasyev also found Danilov guilty ofembezzling 466,000 rubles ($16,500) — thefirst payment by the Chinese company.During the retrial he unexpectedly jailedDanilov, who had been free, afterprosecutors accused the physicist of“criminal activity” for giving an interview to a US newspaper, the Los Angeles Times.

Danilov’s lawyer, Yelena Yevmenova, saysshe will appeal the sentence in the RussianSupreme Court, as well as the EuropeanCourt of Human Rights. ■

Declan Butler,ParisThe multibillion-dollar ITERfusion reactor was always intendedto be an international collabora-tion, and was billed as a model for‘big science’projects.But this week,the model looks in deep trouble.

On 26 November, the Euro-pean Union (EU) broke ranks withthe site selection process, andannounced that if agreement isn’treached quickly, it will go it aloneto build the reactor in Europe.

ITER aims to prove the princi-ple of generating energy fromfusion, by confining a ring ofplasma with a magnetic field in a doughnut-shaped vessel andheating it to several million degrees kelvin.But the six-strong collaboration has splitover the siting of the facility: China and Rus-sia back the EU’s site in Cadarache, France,whereas the United States and South Koreafavour Japan’s rival site at Rokkasho.

At a meeting in Brussels, research andindustry ministers from the EU’s 25 memberstates followed through on a threat that theyfirst aired in September. They authorized theEuropean Commission, the EU’s executivearm, to abandon the multilateral site selec-tion process if necessary and build ITER inFrance, with as many outside partners as itcan muster.

EU ministers insist that this option will bea last resort. The Japanese government hasyet to respond, but fusion officials therereacted angrily. Satoru Ohtake, director offusion energy at Japan’s science ministry,says the EU move jeopardizes not just ITER

but also the ground rules needed for futureinternational collaborations. “By pursuingtheir own desires, they will be the ones thatbreak international trust,”says Ohtake.“Thisis divisive; it is not acceptable to us.”

Commission officials counter that thestalled talks needed shock therapy and thatthe situation was “in complete deadlock”.Political realities make site selection theinevitable crux of any international collabo-ration, adds one official, and “unless yourproject is in space, you will have always thisproblem of choosing the site”.

Europe’s most recent offer to Japan, inreturn for agreeing to the Cadarache site,includes a fusion package that would com-pensate the country and include support fora major upgrade to its JT60 fusion reactor.Ohtake claims that Japan has offered Europesimilar concessions.

Neither offer prevailed, however, at the

latest meeting of negotiators on9 November in Vienna (see Nature432, 262; 2004). Japan’s position is that both parties should tem-porarily put aside the siting issue,says Ohtake, and discuss the “roleof host and non-host parties”.

Europe’s brinkmanship seemspartly based on the reckoning thatonly one ITER will ever be built,and if it can force the deadlockwith firm support for a Frenchsite, then Japan and the UnitedStates will eventually join the onlyshow in town.

This scenario is credible, saysStephen Dean, head of FusionPower Associates, a Washington-

based fusion advocacy group.“I think the EUcould get together a package that wouldwork,”he says.

France has already offered to double itssupport for ITER to $1.12 billion, or 20% ofthe total bill, and the rest of Europe has com-mitted another 40%. Even if Japan and theUnited States pulled out, Europe could con-ceivably make up the shortfall from Russia,China and other partners.

But some European fusion scientists fearthat the EU has overplayed its hand — andunderestimated Japanese determination tohost ITER. “The European Commissionbadly misread Japan’s negotiating positions;it has been convinced that Japan wouldbudge,” says one European scientist close tothe negotiations.The big unknown,he says, iswhether Japan will call Europe’s bluff, andannounce that it, too, intends to go it alone. ■

Additional reporting by Geoff Brumfiel in Washington.

news

538 NATURE | VOL 432 | 2 DECEMBER 2004 | www.nature.com/nature

Europe breaks ranks over fusion project site

Scientists decry ‘spy’ verdict for Russian physicist

Site fight: Europe is holding out to build ITER at Cadarache in France.

ITE

R

2.12 news 538 MH 30/11/04 2:39 pm Page 538

© 2004 Nature Publishing Group

top related