Vice-premier demands answers on brain drain from Chinese nuclear institute after over 90 researchers quit
- Liu He orders team to find out why bright young scientists are leaving the Institute of Nuclear Energy Safety Technology
- The Chinese Academy of Sciences has already sent its own investigators to Hefei amid reports of inter-agency friction and private sector poaching
Liu, a top leader in charge of China’s economic and trade policies, has ordered a special team to be sent to the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science to look into the mass resignation of researchers.
Chinese media have reported that more than 90 researchers, most of them PhD holders, had recently resigned from the Institute of Nuclear Energy Safety Technology (INEST) in the eastern city of Hefei.
INEST is part of the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, which is under the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences, the country’s top research body.
According to its official website, INEST is devoted to the research and development of advanced nuclear energy and safety technology. Its research areas include neutron physics, advanced fission energy, fusion energy and extended nuclear technology applications.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences announced Liu’s investigation on its website on Tuesday.
