US nuclear stockpile Illustration: Liu Rui/Global Times

A US couple has been arrested in the state of West Virginia for allegedly selling information on nuclear warships to what they believed was a foreign state, the Justice Department said Sunday.

Jonathan Toebbe, 42, who worked as a nuclear engineer for the US Navy, and his wife Diana, 45, were arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents on Saturday and charged with violating the Atomic Energy Act in a criminal complaint, the Justice Department said in a statement.

For nearly one year, the couple "sold information known as restricted data concerning the design of nuclear powered warships to a person they believed was a representative of a foreign power," the statement said, adding that the recipient of the information was an undercover FBI agent.

US nuclear-powered submarines were at the center of a major diplomatic crisis between Paris and Washington in September, when Australia scrapped a large contract to buy submarines from France.

Toebbe, who was based in Annapolis, Maryland and had access to restricted data on nuclear-powered warships through his work, collaborated with his wife to exchange data on submarine nuclear reactors for around $100,000 in cryptocurrency, the complaint affidavit alleges.

When Toebbe first tried to establish contact with the foreign government, he wrote, "I apologize for this poor translation into your language. Please forward this letter to your military intelligence agency," according to the complaint. 

The affidavit says Toebbe in April 2020 mailed a package to the foreign government "containing a sample of restricted data and instructions for establishing a covert relationship," according to the statement.

AFP