IBM admits supplying Russian nuclear plant

An IBM subsidiary has been fined nearly $8.5m for defying US law by selling computers to a Russian nuclear plant. The company pleaded guilty to the charge in the US District Court of Washington, rather than face a full-blown court case.

As part of the settlement, the subsidiary - IBM East Europe/Asia Ltd (IEEA) - was banned from exporting computer equipment for two years. However, the ban was immediately suspended, and will remain lifted unless the company infringes US law again.

The case focussed on IBM's sale of 17 RS/6000 computers to Orfort, an agency acting for Azama, operators of a Russian nuclear laboratory. The sales were made between late 1996 and early 1997.

When clustered together, IBM's RS/6000 models reach extremely high processing speeds and can be used for nuclear simulations. In particular, the RS/6000 SP, one of which was included in the sale, is under special US protection.

IBM head office stressed that the sale - which bypassed US export regulators - was against company policy. Spokesman, Joerg Winkelmann, told Silicon News: "IBM initially believed Orfort to be a reputable customer. Only one man at IEEA knew the computers were then diverted for military use." This man, who Winkelmann said was not a senior executive, left IBM earlier this year.