[/floatr]Yomiuri: Japan-made pumps 'used at N-facilities in N. Korea'
Japanese-made vacuum pumps used for uranium enrichment were discovered at nuclear facilities in North Korea during an inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency last year...According to sources, the U.N. nuclear watchdog notified the Japanese government of the discovery, which prompted a search earlier this month by the Kanagawa prefectural police of five locations, including the head offices of Tokyo Vacuum based in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Nakano Corp., a Minato Ward, Tokyo-based import-export agency. The two companies are suspected of exporting the vacuum pumps without permission in violation of the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law, according to the sources. The police suspected the pumps were shipped through Taiwan and dispatched investigators to the island in an effort to trace how the pumps reached North Korea, the sources said. This is the first time an IAEA inspection has revealed Japanese products have been diverted for use in North Korea's nuclear program...The vacuum pump is subject to export regulations because it can be used for separating uranium. The Tokyo company said it shipped 10 vacuum pumps to a trading company in Taipei for about 500,000 yen in the summer of 2003. It said that was the first time it had done business with the Taiwan company. The two Japanese companies told the police they were not aware the pumps would be used at the nuclear facilities, nor that they were subject to export controls, the sources said...more...
