rssA Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at 9:36 am
- 25 Comments
The New York Times has a bizarre story today about a former government scientist who attempted to sell Venezuela plans to build a nuclear bomb, in exchange for help furthering his vision for a nuclear fusion technology that could revolutionize the way energy is produced.
It’s the story of a man, P. Leonardo Mascheroni, who has had a life-long obsession with developing the laser technology, sending plans and hundred-page-long letters to lawmakers and experts in hopes of finding a supporter. But support never came, and Mascheroni’s obsession, the FBI alleges, took a dark turn when he accepted money from an undercover agent posing as a Venezuelan official who promised him to help develop the technology.
It’s definitely worth a read.
An excerpt:
Dr. Mascheroni, 75, is a nuclear scientist who has spent the 22 years since he left the Los Alamos National Laboratory trying to sell Congress, the scientific community, journalists — anyone who would listen, really, including this reporter — on his plan to build a giant laser for the achievement of nuclear fusion.
His plan earned respect and high-level endorsements, but the government chose a different path. Rather than give up, Dr. Mascheroni redoubled his campaign, sending out lengthy technical documents from his home in New Mexico to try to coax Washington to finance his laser.
“You’d get these fat FedEx packages,” said Steven Aftergood, a security expert at the Federation of American Scientists.
As he was snubbed by Congress and federal experts, Dr. Mascheroni, a naturalized citizen who was born in Argentina, grew increasingly frustrated and bitter. He became known in Washington for veiled threats to take his atomic expertise abroad unless the government backed his laser plan. He seemed to think that he could bully the federal establishment into big spending, according to people on the receiving end of his missives.
Follow Andrew Restuccia on Twitter
25 Comments
Pingback posted September 28, 2010 @ 10:48 am
[...] A Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation « The … [...]
Pingback posted September 28, 2010 @ 12:17 pm
[...] reading here: A Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation « The … Tags: a-bizarre-story, a-former-government, a-nuclear-bomb, a-nuclear-fusion, bizarre-story, [...]
Pingback posted September 28, 2010 @ 12:44 pm
[...] A Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation « The … [...]
Pingback posted September 28, 2010 @ 12:46 pm
[...] A Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation « The … [...]
Pingback posted September 28, 2010 @ 12:47 pm
[...] A Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation « The … [...]
Pingback posted September 28, 2010 @ 12:58 pm
[...] A Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation « The … [...]
Trackback posted September 28, 2010 @ 3:59 pm
Nuclear power regaining favor…
I found your entry interesting thus I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog :)…
Pingback posted September 28, 2010 @ 5:18 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by KimK, Miguel Eduardo Carta, Gas Diesel Prices, Andrew Restuccia, WashIndependent and others. WashIndependent said: A Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation http://bit.ly/auJSEm [...]
Pingback posted September 28, 2010 @ 5:56 pm
[...] A Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation « The … [...]
Pingback posted September 28, 2010 @ 5:56 pm
[...] A Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation « The … [...]
Pingback posted September 28, 2010 @ 6:28 pm
[...] A Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation « The Washington Independent [...]
Pingback posted September 28, 2010 @ 11:05 pm
[...] A Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation « The … [...]
Trackback posted September 29, 2010 @ 4:16 pm
North Korea says nuclear arms must be strengthened…
I found your entry interesting do I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog :)…
Trackback posted September 30, 2010 @ 6:30 am
Dexter Season 5, Episode 1: “My Bad” Recap (Part 2)…
I found your entry interesting thus I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog :)…
Pingback posted September 30, 2010 @ 10:04 pm
[...] A Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation « The … [...]
Pingback posted October 5, 2010 @ 3:38 am
[...] full post on The Washington Independent advertising Share and [...]
Pingback posted October 5, 2010 @ 11:28 am
[...] A Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation « The … [...]
Pingback posted October 5, 2010 @ 12:37 pm
[...] A Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation « The … [...]
Pingback posted October 6, 2010 @ 6:35 am
[...] A Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation « The … [...]
Pingback posted October 7, 2010 @ 2:43 pm
[...] A Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation « The … [...]
Pingback posted October 10, 2010 @ 9:29 am
[...] A Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation « The … [...]
Pingback posted October 11, 2010 @ 8:57 pm
[...] A Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation « The … [...]
Trackback posted October 14, 2010 @ 11:50 pm
A Nuclear Energy Obsession Leads to FBI Investigation « The ……
I found your entry interesting do I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog :)…
Trackback posted March 10, 2011 @ 6:15 pm
My Recommended Websites…
[...]some new websites on the web we love, even if they are not related to ours. Check them out[...]…
Trackback posted March 23, 2011 @ 8:59 am
Cycle for Charity…
[...]i feel so sorry for everybody in japan who have lost thier families[...]…
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
