Orig. pub. by Charleston Voice 02.11.2013
Published on Feb 11, 2013
On January 31, 2013 the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy hosted a public education event just north of Apollo Pennsylvania. Author Grant F. Smith discussed key findings from his 2012 book, "Divert! NUMEC, Zalman Shapiro, and the Diversion of US Weapons-Grade Uranium into the Israeli Nuclear Weapons Program" at the Parks Township Volunteer Fire Hall. [NUMEC is a Pennsylvania company]
Smith's talk will covered the corporate histories of NUMEC and Apollo Industries, how regulators dealt with the plant's massive losses of bomb-grade nuclear material, the FBI's investigation of NUMEC's joint venture with a front for Israel's nuclear weapons program, and the ongoing clandestine interactions of NUMEC executives with Israeli intelligence and covert nuclear weapons program operatives.
Smith also unveiled a major new effort to declassify all remaining CIA, NSA, Justice Department and National Security Council files revealing how American presidents quietly grappled with NUMEC as a proliferation and safeguards issue from the LBJ to the Carter administrations.
Smith's talk will covered the corporate histories of NUMEC and Apollo Industries, how regulators dealt with the plant's massive losses of bomb-grade nuclear material, the FBI's investigation of NUMEC's joint venture with a front for Israel's nuclear weapons program, and the ongoing clandestine interactions of NUMEC executives with Israeli intelligence and covert nuclear weapons program operatives.
Smith also unveiled a major new effort to declassify all remaining CIA, NSA, Justice Department and National Security Council files revealing how American presidents quietly grappled with NUMEC as a proliferation and safeguards issue from the LBJ to the Carter administrations.
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The Israel Lobby Archive releases 250 pages of Carter administration files about NUMEC obtained from the National Archives on January 23, 2013.
Israel Lobby Archive: http://www.IRmep.org/ila/numec/01232013_Carter_Admin_DOJ_file.pdf
The NUMEC files include:
1. 4/25/1979 Attorney General memo that the Internal Security Section "completed a detailed review of thousands of CIA documents..." necessitating further FBI investigations. (p. 1) 2. 4/17/1979 Deputy AG memo that "the CIA had a substantial number of documents of relevance to this case." (p. 3) 3. 6/28/1978 Howard Baker Jr. Letter notifying Attorney General that the "CIA provided..recently discovered classified file ...extremely significant and previously unknown to me." (p. 7) 4. Withdrawal sheets of sensitive material made at the request of the Justice Department in 2012, including a letter from President Jimmy Carter.
5. Inclusion in the NUMEC case file of an argument from the Commonwealth Edison Company of Illinois (CECO) that it should not be criminally prosecuted for safeguards issues because of harm to civilian industry. Benchmark reference. (pp 24-33) 6. Withdrawal sheet notice of a four-page FBI communication titled "Zalman Mordecai Shapiro; Atomic Energy Act; Obstruction of justice" (p.80) 7. GAO report titled "Review of Accountability Controls Over Special Nuclear Materials, Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation," Report to Joint Committee on Atomic Energy by the Comptroller General of the United States, June 1967. The GAO could not obtain this report for release after a request made in 2011. (p. 143) 8. Special Assistant to the AG letter indicating DOJ would not cooperate with a 1977-1978 GAO investigation because "NUMEC investigation is still active and thus we cannot provide documentary material from our files." (p. 222)
Despite growing evidence of wrongdoing, the Carter administration neither prosecuted responsible parties nor passed investigation files to the Reagan administration, perhaps in the interest of preserving Camp David peace accords or preserving the civilian nuclear industry. IRmep is still actively pursuing release of all withdrawn documents, including DOJ files derived from thousands of CIA documents, and the CIA documents.
