Not fresh off the wires, about a week old
I am surprised no one here jumped on this story...
Frank
TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Japanese police on Monday raided a precision instrument maker, a company official said, amid media reports it allegedly exported machinery to China and Thailand that could be used in uranium enrichment.
Investigators raided the headquarters of Mitutoyo Corp. on Monday morning, according to a company official who refused to be named, citing internal regulations. The official said she could not provide further details, but said the company was "cooperating fully" with investigations.
Mitutoyo Corp. is suspected of exporting two three-dimensional measurement machines that can be used for uranium enrichment -- a technology that can produce nuclear fuel or bombs -- to subsidiaries of Japanese firms in China and Thailand in 2001, according to a report carried Sunday by the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's largest daily.
The International Atomic Energy Agency also discovered Mitutoyo machinery at nuclear-related sites in Libya during inspections in December 2003 and January 2004, the Yomiuri also said, citing unidentified sources. The Mainichi and Sankei dailies carried a similar report Sunday.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police could not disclose any information on ongoing investigations.
The three-dimensional measurement device is generally used to spot deformations on a range of equipment. It cannot be exported without special government permission because it can also be used to determine centrifugal distances in the process of uranium enrichment, according to Mikio Aoki, an official at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Aoki, however, said he was not authorized to speak on the allegations against Mitutoyo, or on the IAEA findings. He said he was unaware of previous cases of alleged illegal export by the company.
Police suspect machinery exported by Mitutoyo may have also reached North Korea via the international black market in nuclear-related technology, the Sankei said.
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