A Chinese-born U.S. nuclear engineer has pleaded guilty to helping a state-controlled Chinese nuclear energy company build reactors in China using U.S. technology.
The U.S. Department of Justice said Friday that 66-year-old Szuhsiung "Allen" Ho pleaded guilty to conspiracy to illegally bypass U.S. regulations on production of nuclear materials outside the United States.
Ho had dual citizenship in China, where he was employed with the China General Nuclear Power Company, and the U.S., where he was owner and president of Delaware-based Energy Technology International.
Prosecutors allege he enticed nuclear experts at the Tennessee Valley Authority to pass sensitive information to Beijing by paying them bribes.
Ho faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He will be sentenced May 17 in U.S. District Court in Knoxville.
Court documents say Ho consulted with the Department of Energy and was told his work fell outside the scope of regulation.
Ho was a nuclear engineer, employed as a consultant by CGNPC and was also the owner of ETI. CGNPC specialized in the development and manufacture of nuclear reactors and was controlled by China's State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
According to documents filed in the case, beginning in 1997 and continuing through April 2016, Ho conspired with others to engage or participate in the development or production of special nuclear material in China, without specific authorization to do so from the U.S. Secretary of Energy, as required by law. Ho assisted CGNPC in procuring U.S.-based nuclear engineers to assist CGNPC and its subsidiaries with designing and manufacturing certain components for nuclear reactors, including the small modular reactor program.
This case was initially investigated by the FBI, Tennessee Valley Authority-Office of the Inspector General and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations.