Nuclear espionage whistleblower: “The Pakistani nuclear bomb is made in Holland”
In the context of the World Whistleblowing Day we share an exclusive interview with the Dutch whistleblower Frits Veerman, who revealed the great nuclear espionage of the 1970s. Veerman was one of the first to bring his case to the newly founded House for Whistleblowers in 2016. He wants reparation and compensation because he feels that the Dutch government treated him unjustly at the time. The interview was conducted by Transparency International Netherlands (TI-NL) Communications & Project Officer Lotte Rooijendijk. Transparency International believes that whistleblowers should be protected: they contribute to a world in which wrongdoing are resolved, instead of being covered up.
In the 1960s, Frits Veerman worked at VMF-Stork’s Physical Dynamic Research Laboratory (FDO), also seen as the cradle of uranium enrichment using the ultracentrifuge process. “Enriched uranium is predominantly used as fuel for nuclear power plants. However, the same technology can be applied to make critical mass with which you can develop a nuclear bomb,” says Veerman.
What went wrong within the organization and how did Veerman discover this?
In the early 1970s the Pakistani nuclear scientist, Abdul Khan, joined VMF Stork, where he worked with Veerman on ultracentrifuge technology. Because Khan had lived in Europe for eleven years and was married to a Dutch-speaking woman, he passed the security investigation of the National Security Service (BVD) without any problems. As contact between colleagues Veerman and Khan became closer and a friendship developed, Veerman found out that Khan stole essential knowledge for uranium enrichment and passed it on to the Pakistani government. Pakistan had a great interest in this: the country wanted to become a nuclear power.
In the beginning, Veerman frequently visited the ultracentrifuge plant with Khan where new parts were developed for the ultracentrifuge. “I have a good understanding of mechanics. My work was my hobby and I was particularly interested in ultracentrifuge as it’s a technique with which you can enrich uranium but also produce critical mass to build nuclear weapons. You have to handle this with a lot of care in my opinion and not provide access to just everyone. That’s why I stopped taking Khan with me. It turned out that all research reports on uranium enrichment were translated into English by Khan’s wife. And she was paid for it by FDO.”
Veerman also found drawings of ultracentrifuges when visiting Khan’s home and received dubious requests and offers from Khan. For instance, Veerman was invited for a fully-arranged trip to Pakistan that would be paid by the Pakistani government and was asked by Khan to take photos of the ultracentrifuge plant — “Then it hit me, something is not right here.”
How did Veerman address this?
“It was difficult to report this. My managers were friends of Abdul. My gut feeling told me I could not report my concerns with them. At some point I called the director of the Energy Research Center (umbrella research organization) in the Netherlands from a phone booth. Unfortunately, I did not get to speak to him personally, only to his secretary. Nothing changed.”
In 1975, Khan did not return from his holidays in Pakistan. “That was the moment the BVD came to visit us and I had to tell what I thought of Mr. Khan. I knew he was passing on secrets so I shared my view: ‘Abdul is a spy, he has been spying on us for years. He is taking all the knowledge about ultracentrifuge technology to Lahore in Pakistan and he is building an ultracentrifuge plant over there.’ I was asked to keep this information to myself and I replied with: ‘I live in a democracy and therefore I am allowed to disclose this. I’ve been working with Khan for about five or six years now so I know what he’s doing.” According to Veerman, the international importance of this cover up had to do with various things: the pressure from the CIA, international trade and financial interests, geopolitical interests and the reputation of the Netherlands.
Why didn’t they listen?
Veerman only had his suspicions. He knew he needed solid evidence, so he started correspondence with Khan. “Abdul and I shared a hobby: astronomy. I started to write him letters about that until I had the proof about what he was doing exactly. At one point he asked if I could share technical information about an ultracentrifuge with him by mail. There I had him, there I had proof that he was spying.” When Veerman showed the letters to the FDO management, they summoned him to destroy them. But he didn’t. He provided a copy to management, and archived the original letter. To this day, the letters are neatly and securely stored in his safe.
Soon after, Veerman went on his honeymoon. “When we returned, the postman was at the door with a fax from my employer stating I was no longer allowed to work. I was fired. The following months the BVD was chasing me day and night, I was put under pressure. All of this in order to keep my mouth shut.”
“According to them, I committed criminal offenses by blowing the whistle on Khan. I reversed that: You commit a criminal offense by knowingly allowing a spy to go about stealing such sensitive information that can eventually be used by a country to develop a nuclear bomb.”
Veerman ended up in prison to be “heard as a witness”, as the official statement said. “That was rather far from the actual interviews: from the start I was told that I had to keep my mouth shut about the whole case around Khan. This went on for three days and involved up to fifteen people who were brainwashing me to try to scare me and silence me.”
He thought it was a matter of such great importance that he decided to speak up. He contacted the media and lifted the lid on the practices at FDO and VMF-Stork with the message that secret nuclear intelligence was sold with permission from the government.
“The government knew about it and large multinationals received large orders and made a lot of money with the arrangement. This is not even taking Pakistan itself into the equation. There are now 30,000 ultracentrifuges running in that country thanks to Abdul, thanks to the technology from the Netherlands, with the knowledge of the former Dutch government. Later on Pakistan resold the stolen nuclear intelligence to North Korea, Libya and Iran. If Iran was to drop a nuclear bomb on Israel, it ought to say: Made in Holland. Abdul himself also became rich. I understand he received 800 million dollars through his work. In Pakistan he is considered the godfather of the Pakistani nuclear bomb.”
“If Iran was to drop a nuclear bomb on Israel, it must say: Made in Holland.”
Did Veerman ever think of the possible consequences at the time of the report?
“Yes, the possibility of repercussions did cross my mind. But I have been fortunate in my life. I can honestly say I have always had other things on my hands. I found a new job at the Dutch social security administration soon after my resignation.”
However, even in his new employment Veerman was being chased by the national security service: “In my first week on the job, the security service was already knocking on my door.” A week later his supervisor called him to his office: “Mr. Veerman, there are three people from the national security service to see you again. There are few people at this office who are regularly visited by the security service. Is there anything we need to know? Did you steal something?” Veerman replied, “No, I did not steal anything. This is about nukes.” The following weeks the area around the social security administration office was swarming with journalists. “My employer must have thought: who the hell did we bring in?”
“Today, I am a whistleblower who lost his job at the time and who wants to be rehabilitated. This process is taking over 40 years already and although it does not affect me, it does have a certain after-effects on my family. I have one advantage: I have remained healthy all that time. My whole life I have been road cycling, which taught me to deal with set-backs and to push myself to the limit.”
Eventually Veerman, 40 years later, stepped into the newly formed House for Whistleblowers.
“I do not have legal protection, I am not wealthy as I would otherwise have filed a lawsuit against the state.” The whistleblower expert group and the initiator of the House for Whistleblowers Act advised Veerman to wait for the Act to enter into force so that the he would receive legal protection. “After the ratification of the Act, I immediately reported to the House for Whistleblowers in Utrecht. They told me: Mr. Veerman, we know about your case but we are not in the capacity to investigate it. I replied with: listen carefully, a law has been ratified, there is a House for Whistleblowers, the citizen can employ the law and you tell me that you are not equipped to deal with my case? If so, I will return with a lawyer and I will file a default notice. That ended with a whimper. A lawyer was generous enough to take up the case and joined me to support my case before the House for Whistleblowers. I have shared an entire archive with them and the case has now been formally taken into consideration. All witnesses are being called, I am officially identified as a whistleblower and the investigation has started. The study should be completed by the end of this year.”
When is your case finally settled?
“I don’t think it will close permanently. For me personally, the most important matter is that Dutch people know what the Dutch state did back in the 1970s. They have made the whole world unstable and put people from many countries in critical danger. I am not proud to have been involved in this but I do have a certain responsibility. What has happened here must remain consciously present in society so it does not happen a second time.”
