By Greg Seigle

Global Security Newswire

In an effort to stem the spread of dangerous weapons technologies and know-how from Russia to other countries, the United States is moving to increase the number of former Soviet scientists it hires.

Under a bill intended to help Russia reduce its stockpiles of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons—and to keep Russian scientists from aiding such programs in Iran and elsewhere— the U.S. Senate is seeking to increase the number of visas allotted for Russian scientists to come to the United States from 750 per year to 950.

By a 19-0 vote the Security Assistance Act of 2001 passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, a measure that also calls for the easing of Russian foreign debt. Although changes are being made to the bill before it moves to the Senate floor, it is expected to pass without opposition—and receive support from the White House, committee officials said.

But officials familiar with the plight of Russian scientists, some of whom are unemployed and living off meager pensions that sometimes are several months late, said the Senate bill will not make much difference without the backing of Moscow.

“These people do not necessarily want to come here,” said a top official with the Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration, which runs a program to employ Russian scientists in their home cities.

“The Russians certainly don’t want their best and brightest lured out of the country,” the official continued. “If you pluck all the people out, you’re not helping those cities—you’re decimating those cities.”

“The key is to get the money to the right people,” said Bruce Parrott, director of Russian and Eurasian studies at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced international Studies. “Whatever that can be done in this realm is good, but the key is to makes sure we get the right people.”

The bill, which does not specify the amount of funds to relocate Russian scientists, would be in addition to similar programs run by the State Department and the Department of Energy. The State Department’s program offers grants for scientists to work for its International Science and Technology Centers in the United States while the Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration funds scientists to work on viable projects in Russia.

The latter program pays between $200,000 and $1.5 million for various projects, the Department of Energy official said. Currently the department has a budget of $16.6 million for this year.

“Based on projects that just recently concluded, we estimate that in [2002] we may help create nearly 2,000 job opportunities [in Russia].  “As more projects now are in the manufacturing and training arena, rather than R&D, more jobs are created.”

The Senate bill that aims to bring Russian scientists to the states will only work if the Russian government cooperates, said Parrott. He notes that the Russian Defense Ministry has run biological weapons programs that U.S. officials do not know much about, and it is important to hire scientists released from programs such as these so that they do not migrate to other countries.

“I don’t know if Presidents Bush and Putin addressed this last week, but you’ll only get cooperation [in hiring Russian scientists] if there is arm-twisting by both presidential administrations,” Parrott said.

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