W. German Firm Admits India Got Nuclear Arms Material
A West German firm admitted Wednesday it exported to India a metal capable of increasing the explosive power of a nuclear warhead and that the toxic material was obtained from the United States.
The Frankfurt-based Degussa Co. issued a statement after the West German newsmagazine Der Spiegel reported the transaction in a story about the country’s controversial military exports.
The revelation was the latest in a string of recent reports of West German involvement in the export of nuclear and chemical technology to Libya and other sensitive areas.
The Degussa statement said the West German government authorized the chemical and metals firm to export 200 pounds of the beryllium obtained from the United States to India’s Atomic Energy Authority in 1985.
“The material was from an import from the U.S.,” the company statement said. “It is possible an American license was also needed” for the export of the metal to India.
The only commercial U.S. producer of beryllium, a metal that can be used to boost the explosive power in a nuclear warhead, is the Brush Wellman Inc. of Cleveland.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Charles Redman said he could not confirm the report.
The latest disclosure came just after Finance Minister Helmut Hausmann said that West Germany planned to take further measures to prevent the illegal export of arms and sensitive technology.
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