Bugproofing The Embassy

After U.S. officials discovered that their new $192 million embassy in Moscow had been equipped with wall-to-wall Soviet bugs, they tapped former Defense Secretary and Central Intelligence Agency Director James R. Schlesinger to assess the damage and figure out a way to deal with it. Last week Schlesinger confirmed that the situation was bad -- but maybe not as disastrous as it initially seemed. His recommendation: that the U.S. salvage the first five of the eight floors for routine use, rebuild the top three floors to make them bugproof, and construct a new six-story annex to house the embassy's most sensitive activities.

The work would cost an estimated $80 million and would not be completed until 1990. Schlesinger admitted that it would "require a level of Soviet cooperation that exceeds anything they have heretofore provided." Even so, he suspected cooperation might be forthcoming, given Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev's hope for an arms-control pact with the U.S. Said Schlesinger: "They will recognize that the cost of failing to accommodate us . . . will far exceed the gains."

Schlesinger contended that the U.S. should never have permitted the Soviets to cast concrete parts for the American building away from the site -- a procedure that allowed the Soviets to implant the electronic listening devices. He suggested that future construction be done by American workers using materials prefabricated in the U.S. He blamed the State Department and other Government agencies for recognizing the problem so late. Schlesinger admitted that U.S. experts still did not fully understand how the eavesdropping system worked, but he credited unnamed U.S. technicians with inventing a new detection device that enabled them to assess the damage. They "deserve a medal," said Schlesinger, whose suggestions conflict with a Senate proposal calling for the replacement of the compromised chancery with a new structure built from scratch. Though the House has not yet voted on the proposal, many Senators remained skeptical toward the Schlesinger plan. Labeling it a "half measure," South Carolina Democrat Ernest Hollings declared, "The best solution would be just to tear the whole thing down and send the Soviets the bill."