Three Oak Ridge researchers held for security concerns

The three scientists were red-flagged as potential security risks when they applied for new travel visas at the U.S. Consulate in Montreal, where they were attending a conference of the American Physical Society.

Even though they had valid work visas for foreign professionals, they were targeted under new Homeland Security guidelines because they do research in sensitive science and technology fields.

Officials said Friday that one of the three scientists could be headed back to Oak Ridge this weekend.

Lee Riedinger, ORNL’s deputy director for science and technology, told The Knoxville News Sentinel that Soek Yun of South Korea has been approved for a new travel visa and is expected to board a U.S.-bound flight Sunday.

The other two postdoctoral researchers — Feng Ye of China and Julian Valez of Bulgaria — may also get the green light soon, he said.

“That seems to be the body language. There’s no guarantee, of course. But the body language is that we should be able to work through these things in an efficient manner,” Riedinger said.

The scientists work at ORNL but are employed by Oak Ridge Associated Universities, which arranged the postdoctoral appointments at the federal research lab.