German Man Investigated for Nuclear Smuggling

A German businessman identified as Rainer V. is being investigated for shipping uranium enrichment equipment to Pakistan, Agence France-Press reported Saturday (see GSN, May 31).

The weekly magazine Focus revealed the investigation. The man allegedly bought vacuum pumps, special ventilators and spare parts for mass spectrometers from the German company Pfeiffer Vacuum and then shipped the equipment to Pakistan between 2002 and 2004, according to AFP.

The equipment ultimately made its way to former Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who has admitted to exporting nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea, and Libya, AFP reported (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Sept. 24).

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