Nuclear scientists' group resignations under probe
Pub Date:2020-07-22 09:13 Source:China Daily
The State Council, China's Cabinet, has sent an investigative team
with other government agencies to look into the recent resignation of
over 90 nuclear security scientists at an institute of the Chinese
Academy of Sciences, the academy said on Tuesday.
The team consists of officials from the State Council's general
office, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the CAS and other
departments. It will head to Hefei, Anhui province, to thoroughly
investigate the situation, the academy said.
The recent resignation of over 90 nuclear security scientists at the
academy's Institute of Nuclear Energy Safety Technology has ignited
public speculation on institutional bureaucracy, employee poaching and
inadequate financial support for young scientific talent.
The institute recently told China Daily that the resignation was due
to personal reasons and was completely voluntary. Most of them have gone
to work at private firms that are investing in products related to
nuclear safety technologies, it said, adding that previous media reports
have blown the issue out of proportion and that the findings of the
investigation would be published in due time.
CAS said in a statement on Monday that it was aware of the group
resignation, and a separate investigation team led by the academy's
secretary general Wang Keqiang had arrived in Hefei on Monday. INEST is
under the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences.
Given the strategic importance and sensitivity of the institute, the
investigation quickly became the most searched item on Chinese search
engine Baidu on Monday. On Tuesday, Sina Weibo, China's micro-blogging
platform, recorded over 180 million reads for the hashtag on the topic.
INEST was established in September 2011 as a research facility
dedicated to advanced nuclear energy and safety technology, according to
its website. It also acts as an independent nuclear safety assessment
agency with goals of promoting the safe and sustainable development of
nuclear science and technology.