The International Atomic Energy Agency suspects that a Japanese company may have exported parts to Libya for a centrifuge used to enrich uranium, an IAEA source said Saturday.
The IAEA bases the suspicion on an investigation into the case of Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's top nuclear scientist, who is believed to have transferred nuclear technologies to countries including Iran and Libya, the source told Kyodo News.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog plans to consult with the Japanese government about the situation, said the source, who asked not to be named and declined to identify the Japanese company or reveal any more details of the deal.
The company allegedly exported the centrifuge parts, declared to be for civilian use, to Libya via middlemen, but the exports were not conducted on a large scale, the source said.
The IAEA has not yet found Japanese links to transfers of nuclear technology to Iran.
The agency announced earlier that middlemen in five countries in Europe and Asia have supplied nuclear technologies to Iran and Libya, and warned of the existence of a global nuclear black market.
The alleged involvement of a Japanese company suggests the underground black-market network is benefiting from Japan's advanced atomic energy technology.
IAEA Director General Mohammed ElBaradei has said his agency's inspections in countries such as Iran and Libya have uncovered a "very sophisticated and complex underground network of black market operators" that he said are not very different from "organized crime cartels."
He emphasized the need "to keep making progress in combined efforts against illicit trafficking and to keep upgrading security to effectively prevent sensitive nuclear material and technology from falling into wrong hands."