14 DAY TRIAL // A former engineer at the Palo Verde nuclear plant in Arizona faces serious charges for using a a piece of software he illegally took from the plant in Iran. The trial in which the former employee is involved has started this Tuesday and comes one year after the man's arrest, and two after he took the training software.
Mohammad Reza Alavi has been a software engineer for the Arizona nuclear Plant since 1989 to 2006 and has admitted to illicitly taking the software. Prosecutors have charged Mohammad with breaking the United States embargo on trade with Iran. The American authorities have stated though that they don't believe the 50-year-old man to have intended to use the materials he took for terrorist actions. Fact of the matter is, the Iranian-born said he only opened the software application to brag to his family and show them what he did for a living.
It appears that the training software Mohammad took was used for simulation of the plant's control room. The software is said to contain detailed plant information, including schematics. Operators at the Arizona Plant said that the piece of software did not pose any security threat, even if used without authorization.
The man was arrested back in 2007, after he returned to Los Angeles, on a flight from Iran. He denied all of the accusations that were formulated against him and now faces trial, according to the American legislation. Back in 2001, Mohammad Reza Alavi received a letter from the American Treasury Department, that informed him that he was found in violation of regulations. Alavi received payments from a company in Iran, which he denied being untrustworthy sources.
The Palo Verde nuclear plant in Arizona is the largest nuclear power station in the United States. The plant is responsible for providing electricity to some 4 million customers in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and California.