National Lab Briefs

Debt, stress, and greed may be a routine part of life for most scientists. But they are a constant source of worry for Sandia National Lab security chief Jerry Brown. Brown recently analyzed more than 100 cases, of Communist Bloc-sponsored espionage since 1950 (of which more than half occurred in the last decade) in which he found that money was the most common motive. “That fits right in with the Soviet premise that every American has a price,” says Brown, who found that the amounts involved were surprisingly small. Brown and his staff routinely interview Sandia scientists who have traveled abroad to learn the extent of their contacts with foreign researchers. Although roughly 100 lab scientists travel to “sensitive” countries each year, Brown says he knows of none who has been contacted by a foreign agent. Inside the classified defense lab, the security staff encourage scientists to report coworkers who ...