The FBI on Monday confiscated hundreds of documents and various electronic devices belonging to a physicist who has questioned the U.S. government's nuclear work since losing his position at one of the nation's nuclear-weapon laboratories more than 20 years ago, the New York Times reported (see GSN, Aug. 19).
An FBI spokesman said only that the material was seized as part of "an ongoing federal investigation," but former Los Alamos National Laboratory researcher Leonardo Mascheroni said he had been informed that he was the subject of a criminal nuclear espionage probe.
Mascheroni denied accusations of spying (see GSN, Oct. 20).
“If I were a real spy, I would have left the country a long time ago,” Mascheroni told the Times by telephone yesterday.
Over the past several years, the physicist on multiple occasions approached lawmakers to promote a laser-based method for evaluating the dependability of U.S. nuclear weapons.
Mascheroni said he provided an unclassified study on the fusion laser procedure to a self-described Venezuelan official last year. The Argentina-born scientist might have violated federal regulations by leaking information relevant to the production of hydrogen bombs, according to the Times (see GSN, Sept. 16). Mascheroni had agreed to accept $800,000 for the study, but that money was never provided, he said.
Federal agents told Mascheroni that the alleged Venezuelan official was caught with the laser documents two weeks ago, leading to a probe into the scientist's activities that resulted in the seizure of six computers as well as two cameras, two cell phones and hundreds of papers, he said.
"They took 30 years of my work. It's horrible," Mascheroni said.
The physicist attributed two previous security probes into his activities to his criticism of U.S. nuclear activities (William Broad, New York Times, Oct. 21).