Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Mike Lee has raised significant concerns regarding the involvement of U.S. national laboratories in research projects utilizing Chinese government supercomputers, which have been sanctioned by the United States.
In a series of letters addressed to the directors of Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, and Argonne National Laboratories, Lee questioned the use of these facilities in projects funded by the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy. These projects reportedly engaged with at least one of five Chinese supercomputer centers that have been sanctioned.
According to the Daily Caller, an investigation by the Daily Caller News Foundation revealed that from 2016 to 2024, 102 research projects were funded by the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy, primarily through the aforementioned national labs. These projects reportedly utilized supercomputing resources from Chinese centers that were sanctioned due to their affiliations with military and strategic weapons programs. In his letter to Dr. Thom Mason, Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lee expressed his alarm over these collaborations, stating, I write to express serious concerns regarding a recent report detailing how researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) have engaged in research collaborations leveraging PRC-based supercomputing resources.
The U.S. Department of Commerce, in June 2020, imposed sanctions on Chinese supercomputing centers located in Beijing, Changsha, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Tianjin. These sanctions were a response to activities perceived as threats to U.S. national security, including China's involvement in weapons of mass destruction programs. Lee's letters highlighted specific projects of concern, such as a 2022 study titled Kohn Anomaly and Elastic Softening in Body-Centered Cubic Molybdenum at High Pressure, which involved collaboration with entities on the U.S. Entity List. This study reportedly utilized high-pressure simulations conducted on a sanctioned supercomputer in Guangzhou.
In his correspondence with Dr. Paul Kearns, Director of Argonne National Laboratory, Lee underscored the potential risks associated with collaborating with organizations on the Entity List and using sanctioned high-performance computing resources. He noted, By working with these Entity Listed organizations and using a sanctioned HPC resource, the project raises concerns about whether crucial materials research for aerospace and defense could inadvertently support restricted PRC entities.
Prior to Lee's inquiry, representatives from Argonne, Los Alamos, and Oak Ridge National Laboratories had informed the Daily Caller News Foundation that they had not utilized the sanctioned Chinese supercomputers. However, the investigation's findings suggest otherwise, prompting Lee to seek further clarification and accountability from these research institutions.
The situation underscores the ongoing tension between the United States and China, particularly in the realm of technological and scientific collaboration. The use of sanctioned resources raises questions about the oversight and management of research projects funded by U.S. government agencies, especially those with potential implications for national security.
Login