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SCIENTISTS CRITICIZE MORATORIUM ON FOREIGN VISITORS TO US LABORATORIES
The National Academy of Sciences, the leading scientific advisory group in the US, has issued a report condemning the moratorium on exchange visitors from “high risk” countries imposed by Congress in the wake of allegations that Chinese scientists were conducting nuclear espionage.  According to the Academy, the limits, which effect only the three national laboratories where nuclear research is conducted, Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, and Sandia, are both unfair to foreign scientists and could end up hurting American scientists and their research. 
The moratorium is imposed against scientists from countries such as Russia, China and India, which are seen as more likely to engage in espionage and arms proliferation.  This policy, according to the National Academy of Sciences, is misplaced because it is those countries with which exchanges are most helpful.  Also, there is a fear these countries will begin to retaliate by limiting the access American scientists have to their research facilities.  According to the report, this has already happened in Russia.  Another result of the moratorium has been to make recruiting foreign scientists from all nations more difficult. 
Rather than limit access, the National Academy of Sciences recommends educating laboratory employees about security, improving security procedures, and encouraging people to avoid prejudices against foreign scientists.  As the report points out, some of the most important contributions to national security this century have been made by foreign born individuals.  
In related news, Dr. Wen Ho Lee, the physicist at the center of the controversy, has been arrested.  He has been charged with negligent handling of secrets, which is not quite espionage.  Dr. Lee, who has been a US citizen since 1974, has sued the government for allowing evidence about its case against him to be leaked to the press.
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