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Worker guilty in bid to sell France nuke secrets | U.S. | Reuters

Worker guilty in bid to sell France nuke secrets

WASHINGTON (Reuters) 26 Jan 09 – A nuclear industry worker who tried to sell uranium enrichment technology to NATO ally France pleaded guilty on Monday to illegally disclosing restricted information, the Justice Department said.

Roy Lynn Oakley, who worked at a facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee that had formerly been used to produce highly enriched uranium, sought to sell equipment and information for $200,000 to representatives of the French government in 2006, according to his plea agreement with federal prosecutors………………….had been told in a security briefing he was given by his employer Bechtel Jacobs that “a number of nations including France” would be interested in buying parts and information stored at the complex.

The pieces of equipment he tried to sell were related to an advanced “gaseous diffusion” process for enriching uranium. Highly-enriched uranium is a fuel used in nuclear weapons.

The Oak Ridge facility was previously operated by the U.S. Department of Energy and is now run by environmental cleanup contractor Bechtel Jacobs.

Worker guilty in bid to sell France nuke secrets | U.S. | Reuters

January 26, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety | antinuclear, nuclear, radioactive, uranium