Friedrich Tinner, also known as Fred Tinner (born 1936), is a Swiss

nuclear engineer Nuclear engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with the application of breaking down atomic nuclei ( fission) or of combining atomic nuclei ( fusion), or with the application of other sub-atomic processes based on the principles of n ...

and a long-associated friend of Abdul Qadeer Khan—Pakistan's former top scientist—and connected with the Khan nuclear network trafficking in the proliferation of nuclear materials and

gas centrifuge A gas centrifuge is a device that performs isotope separation of gases. A centrifuge relies on the principles of centrifugal force accelerating molecules so that particles of different masses are physically separated in a gradient along the radiu ...

designs to Iran, Libya, and

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

. In 2006, Tinner was revealed by the IAEA's investigators as the foreign director and technical head of the Libyan nuclear program. In Libya, Tinner ran the illicit nuclear experiments, using the expertise and technical information he received from his friend Khan, on behalf of the Libyan nuclear program. According to Khan, Tinner was the former researcher of the Kahuta Research Laboratories during the 1970s, when he worked there as a research scientist under the supervision of A. Q. Khan. Tinner is known and has been connected in particular with gas centrifuge technology used for

isotopic enrichment Isotope separation is the process of concentrating specific isotopes of a chemical element by removing other isotopes. The use of the nuclides produced is varied. The largest variety is used in research (e.g. in chemistry where atoms of "marker" ...

of uranium.

Education

Friedrich Tinner was born in Bern, Switzerland, in 1936 to a Swiss family. He received his early and intermediate education there at Bern where he studied science and per-mathematical courses at a local school. In 1961, Tinner went to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

to attend a technical university to study engineering and attended Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. During this time, Abdul Qadeer Khan was also studying for his master's degree in engineering. It was Tinner's college life when he met with Khan and befriended with him in short time. Tinner and Khan studied at ''Leuven'' and stayed in a same dorm room. Tinner received his master of science in Nuclear engineering and took a government assignment in Vienna. Even after Khan moved to

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

as he joined the

URENCO Group The Urenco Group is a British-German-Dutch nuclear fuel consortium operating several uranium enrichment plants in Germany, the Netherlands, United States, and United Kingdom. It supplies nuclear power stations in about 15 countries, and sta ...

, Tinner continued his close association with Khan. After his college years, Tinner went on to work for International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and was made responsible for uranium reactor for the purpose of power generation. Throughout this time, Tinner kept close contact with Dr. A. Q. Khan.

Nuclear proliferation

There are many controversial media and intelligence reports that Friedrich Tinner and his sons, Urs and Marco Tinner, have lived for a long time in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

, where they have worked for Khan Labs as research associates under the supervision of Abdul Qadeer Khan. According to the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, Tinner had a long and close relationship with A. Q. Khan. Tinner and Dr. Khan were college friends in Belgium where they studied together. Tinner, who was working at International Atomic Energy Agency as a uranium expert in the 1980s, resigned from his job and moved to Pakistan, along with his family, where he joined Khan's KRL in early 1980s. The Swiss news agency also reported that Tinner had been working with Dr. Abdul Qadir Khan in mid-1970s, using his expertise in vacuum technology to develop atomic centrifuges. However, Khan maintained that Khan first met with Tinner in 1976 when Khan and Tinner were placing sensitive projects for the Vakuum-Apparate-Technik
VAT
(English: ''Vacuum Apparatus Technology''). A competent nuclear engineer, Tinner left VAT and traveled to Pakistan quite often as he was employed at Khan's

Engineering Research Laboratories The Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories, ( ur, ) or KRL for short, is a federally funded, multi-program national research institute and national laboratory site primarily dedicated to uranium enrichment, supercomputing and fluid mechanics. It ...

(ERL). Tinner resided with Khan and his family where, at ERL, Tinner performed experiments under Khan's supervision. However, in the 1980s, Tinner was invited by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to join and head the Libyan nuclear program. Throughout the 1980s, Tinner tried to maintain the Libyan nuclear program and performed illicit and illegal experiments. However, Tinner again left for Pakistan and the program was dismantled. In 1995, Tinner again returned to Libya with the documentation provided by Khan. Following his return, Tinner became technical directorate officer of Libyan nuclear program, using Khan's expertise to develop the centrifuges. However, due to Libya's academic progress and lack of technicians, the program could not prevail and suffered many setbacks. In 2000, Khan provided sensitive centrifuge designs to Tinner on gas-centrifuge method. But due to its complexity and difficulty, Tinner was unable to establish the gas-cetrifuge program for Libyan nuclear program, therefore, Colonel Gaddafi dismantled and rolled back the program. In 2004, Libya dismantled its program and provided its technical and nuclear materials to

IAEA The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 195 ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Libyan revelations also led the arrest of its former head of the program, Friederich Tinner. In Pakistan, Abdul Qadeer Khan was debriefed by the Pakistan Armed Forces which continued until next 4 years.

Arrest and allegations

His then 43 year-old son Urs Tinner was in custody for four years around 2004 as a suspect in the same network. His brother, Marco Tinner, was also in custody for three years on similar charges. In May, the

President of the Swiss Confederation The president of the Swiss Confederation, also known as the president of the Confederation or colloquially as the president of Switzerland, is the head of Switzerland's seven-member Federal Council, the country's executive branch. Elected by ...

Pascal Couchepin Pascal Couchepin (born 5 April 1942) is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 1998 to 2009. A member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD), he was President of the Swiss Confederation twice, in 2003 and 2008 ...

, announced that the Tinner files, believed to number around 30,000 documents, had been shredded. This was justified to avoid them, "getting into the hands of a terrorist organisation or an unauthorised state", according to Couchepin. However it is alleged that this was a cover-up, to hide the involvement of Urs Tinner with the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

. Although the Swiss government claimed that the shredding was a security requirement of the

as a measure against nuclear proliferation, it is widely alleged that this was done solely under American pressure, either to hide their involvement or to avoid damage to their own propaganda. Swiss senator

Dick Marty Dick Marty (born 7 January 1945) is a Swiss politician ( FDP.The Liberals) and former state prosecutor of the canton of Ticino. He is a former member of the Swiss Council of States (from 1995 to 2011) and of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Coun ...

has questioned the need for their destruction, pointing out that they could merely have been held secret. In 2012, all three were released from jail. Marco was sentenced to 41 months in prison, Urs 50 months and their father was given a 24-month suspended sentence. They were released immediately on the basis of time already served.

Education

Nuclear proliferation

Arrest and allegations

See also

References

Further reading