FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 8, 1999

NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
Hope Williams, 202/586-5806

Secretary of Energy Advisory Board Releases
Report
on Energy Department's Foreign Visits and
Assignments Program

Board Calls Continued International Exchange Essential

The Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) today released a report which concludes that broad scientific benefits of international collaboration at the Department of Energy's (DOE's) national laboratories make it essential to the scientific and technological strength of the United States. In addition, the report says that foreign national visitors and assignees can safely have managed access to DOE's laboratories and other facilities without jeopardizing national security.

"International scientific collaborations with foreign governments and scientists for research and development are invaluable to this country and support the department's diverse mission areas of national security, energy resources, science and environmental quality," said Dr. John McTague, Chairman of the SEAB Working Group. "In some areas, such as high energy physics, the trend is toward fewer, one-of-a-kind, facilities which by necessity are open to the international scientific community for research. To derive the benefits of these collaborations, however, there is an assumption of quid pro quo access to facilities in participating countries."

In March, Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson requested that the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board form a Working Group to review the department's foreign visits and assignments program to assess the balance between national security and science. The department's Foreign Visits and Assignments Program administers the policies and procedures related to foreign nationals at the Energy Department laboratories and other facilities.

"I thank the members of the advisory board who worked so diligently on this important report," said Secretary Richardson upon receipt of the group's work. "The findings support the view that if you have a good security program, you also can have effective international scientific collaboration. In fact, strong international cooperation is essential to our national scientific and security programs."

The Secretary of Energy Advisory Board approved the findings and recommendations of the Working Group during a public teleconference on May 19. Among its findings, the Working Group concludes that the Department of Energy "now has in place security reforms which will operate to protect against compromises in national security," and the report outlines several reasons why the foreign national visitors program remains critical to fulfilling the department's missions:

• During the course of its review, the Working Group did not find that foreign visitors or assignees represent high security risks at the department's laboratories. In fact, there is no known instance of a foreign visitor or assignee perpetrating espionage.
• The Foreign National Visitors Program allows scientists at the national laboratories to benefit and learn from important developments and discoveries made by colleagues.
• The Energy Department is the nation's single largest supporter of research and development in the physical sciences and engineering field. Yet, the department's laboratories conduct only one to two percent of the world's research and development and the remaining 98-99 percent is conducted elsewhere in the United States and abroad by industry, universities and governments.
• Limiting the Foreign National Visitors Program could jeopardize the non-proliferation program with the Russian government. This program is totally dependent on collaboration among Russian and United States scientists and technicians. The programs includes securing and safeguarding nuclear materials which are of potential use for weapons, and the safe and secure dismantling of nuclear warheads. This program keeps unemployed and underemployed Russian scientists away from jobs in countries that have or are developing nuclear weapons.
• Successful international collaboration contributes to the department's ability to attract and retain the world's top scientists and engineers at its laboratories. The loss of these scientists, engineers and experts would have long-term serious implications for national security and economic well-being.

The report also makes several recommendations to improve the department's Foreign National Visitors Program including:

• Delegating responsibility and accountability of unclassified foreign visits and assignments to laboratory directors;
• Requiring background checks to be performed on all foreign assignees from sensitive countries regardless of whether or not classified work is conducted at the site; and
• In lieu of creating new lists, the department should establish designations and definitions for sensitive subjects and technologies to determine where nonproliferation or export control issues may rise.

In compiling the report, SEAB members examined data and information submitted by the laboratories and interviewed senior departmental and laboratory officials to collect additional data. The SEAB Working Group also visited three laboratories and held three public meetings on DOE's Foreign Visits and Assignments Program. Laboratory scientists and engineers attended the meetings and provided additional comments.

SEAB is the highest level external advisory board in the Department of Energy and reports directly to the Secretary of Energy. It was chartered in 1990 to provide the Secretary with timely, balanced, independent advice on the department's basic and applied research activities, economic and national security policy, educational issues, laboratory management and any other activities and operations of DOE at the direction of the Secretary.

A copy of the final report is located on the SEAB web site at http://www.hr.doe.gov/SEAB.

Members of the SEAB Foreign Visitors and Assignments Working Group include:

Dr. John McTague, Working Group
Chairman
Vice President, Technical Affairs
(Retired)
Ford Motor Company
Montecito, Calif.

Dr. Al Narath
President (Retired)
Energy and Environment Sector
Lockheed Martin Corporation
Albuquerque, N.M.

Mr. Andrew Athy, Chairman of SEAB
Ex Officio member of the Working Group
Partner
O'Neill, Athy & Casey, PC
Washington, D.C.

Mr. Troy E. Wade II
President
Wade Associates, Inc.
Las Vegas, Nev.

Dr. Paul Gilman
Director of Policy Planning
Celera Genomics Corporation
Rockville, Md.

RADM Robert Wertheim, USN
(Retired)
Consultant
Science Applications International Corporation
La Jolla, Calif.

Dr. Paul Fleury
Dean
School of Engineering
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, N. M.

- DOE -

R-99-139