In news from Capitol Hill, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce has revealed the Energy Department is subsidizing two Russian nuclear institutes that are building important parts of the Bushehr nuclear reactor in Iran. The Bush administration has accused Iran of using the Bushehr reactor as a cover for a nuclear weapons program. According to House Democrats, the Energy Department has sent $4 million to the Russian institutes as part of a program set up to prevent nuclear proliferation.
Congressman John Dingell of Michigan said, “It is troubling that DOE would subsidize or otherwise support Russian institutes providing technology and services to the Iranian nuclear program.”