Japanese Company Raided Over Nuclear-Related Exports
Japanese police raided a precision instrument maker today, amid media reports the firm illegally exported machinery to China and Thailand that could be used in uranium enrichment.
Investigators searched the headquarters of Mitutoyo Corp. this morning, said a company official who declined to give her name, citing internal regulations. The official said she could not provide further details, but added that the company was “cooperating fully.”
Mitutoyo Corp. is suspected of exporting two three-dimensional measurement machines in 2001 to subsidiaries of Japanese firms in China and Thailand, Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest daily newspaper, reported Sunday.
Tokyo police said they could not disclose any information on ongoing investigations.
The three-dimensional measurement device, which is generally used to spot deformations on a range of equipment, can be applied to the uranium enrichment process. Enrichment is required to produce fuel for atomic power, or material for nuclear weapons.
The machine cannot be exported without government permission, said Mikio Aoki, an official at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Aoki said he was not authorized to speak about the allegations against Mitutoyo, but was unaware of any previous cases of illegal export by the company.
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