Computer Sale to Russia Weapons Lab Is Probed

The Clinton administration is investigating the unauthorized sale of advanced computers to Russia, concerned that they may have been used in Russia’s nuclear weapons program.

“We view that as a very serious matter,” State Department spokesman James P. Rubin said Monday. The government had rejected permission for the sale but, according to a New York Times report, 16 IBM computers were secretly provided to a Russian nuclear weapons factory by a Moscow company.

The investigation is being conducted by the Commerce Department and the Customs Service under Justice Department supervision, Rubin said.

IBM spokesman Fred McNeese said IBM had cooperated with the investigation from the outset and was trying to locate and recover any computers shipped to Russia.

In fact, he said, “when an overseas reseller refused to cooperate in those efforts, we terminated our relationship.”

Under U.S. policy, the high-performance computers require validated licenses for export to military and nuclear installations. Without identifying any company, Rubin said licenses were sought in 1996 by U.S. firms to export the computers to two nuclear weapons labs.

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Rubin said the applications were not approved because of a risk of diversion to nuclear weapons programs at the two facilities and because a Russian official said they were to be used to keep Russia’s nuclear stockpile safe and reliable.

“Assisting Russia to maintain the reliability of its nuclear weapons is contrary to U.S. policy,” the spokesman said.

Rubin said “it would be a horse of a different color” if the computers were put to non-weapon use, although U.S. permission still would be required for the sales.