Export Controls in the News

Professors found to have Undisclosed Chinese Ties

May 2019: Emory University found that two professors working on National Institutes of Health-funded projects had “failed to fully disclose foreign sources of research funding and the extent of their work for research institutions and universities in China,” The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. Emory said that the two professors are no longer employed by the university.


The NIH has reportedly sent letters to dozens of research universities inquiring about specific researchers believed to have undisclosed foreign connections. NIH director Francis Collins told a Senate panel in April 2019 that there were then more than 55 active investigations of institutions where the agency believes there may be investigators who were receiving undisclosed foreign funds or stealing intellectual property. At least one other institution, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, moved to fire three researchers after the NIH flagged concerns.

Idaho State University fined for lost plutonium

May 2018: Idaho State University was fined after it lost track of a small amount of plutonium 239, a substance used to make nuclear weapons. The school realized it had lost track of the plutonium earlier in 2018 and immediately notified the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ISU officials said the sample, weighing a gram, was lost as it was being taken out of service after employees only partially filled out the necessary paperwork. Although the ISU believes the tiny speck of plutonium was transferred to a licensed disposal facility, there are no records to prove that it was. The commission fined the university $8,500 for the lost plutonium. 

Bureau of Industry and Security

U.S. Department of Commerce

The Department of Commerce publishes a booklet containing summaries of recent export enforcement cases. For more information see:  Don't let This happen To You

Archived news articles, including information on some of the more famous export control cases, are available as a pdf.  

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