According to the US Department of Justice, American citizen Szuhsiung Ho illegally helped China in developing Nuclear Power, BBC reported. Ho has been sentenced to two years' imprisonment and one year of supervised release. He was ordered to pay a fine $20,000 for his illegal work and violating the U.S tech transfer rules, particularly, the Atomic Energy Act. He had been working for China for more than 20 years. However, he never obtained the official permission to share confidential information on nuclear technologies.

Who is Szuhsiung Ho?

Szuhsiung Ho (66) was born in Taiwan, but has American citizenship and worked as a senior nuclear engineer and a consultant for China General Nuclear Power Company (CGNPC).

He owned a Delaware corporation, Energy Technology International (ETI). Ho is a resident of Delaware.

The Atomic Energy Act was made in a Cold War-era to regulate the sharing of nuclear technologies. The investigation about Ho's violations began in April 2016 in the Eastern District of Tennessee, and he had already spent around nine months in solitary confinement after the arrest. He was accused of being a conspiracy agent of another country. Ho admitted guilty in January this year, as the Justice Department stated, but claimed that he had not tried to help China in producing nuclear weapons, but only in the nuclear energy production.

Ho's accusations

According to District Judge Tom Varlan, this case is about possession and threat of “weapons of mass destruction.” As it was stated in the court, Ho had been trying to find American expert assistants since 1997.

He paid them for their help in developing nuclear reactors, technical assistance, and material.

He also helped China to find better ways to design and make nuclear reactors, which significantly reduced costs and development time. Many of the technologies, which Ho used as the radioactive material for power generating, are on a proscribed list and can be used only with permission from the U.S Department of Energy.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government refused to admit the accusations for its nuclear power company, Knox News reported. Ho could get 71 months in prison. However, Ho’s “multiple briefings” about China led to the recommendation of a short term of 33 months. As the U.S. Attorney Nancy Stallard Harr stated, “Violations of our export control laws will be aggressively prosecuted in the Eastern District of Tennessee.”
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