A Tokyo trading house extensively involved in exporting equipment to Pakistan for use in its clandestine nuclear arms program was forced to scrap the sale of key uranium enrichment devices after the United States became aware of the deal, a source connected with the company said Monday.
The source said it was under U.S. pressure that a Japanese major heavy machinery maker, whose name was not provided, stopped the sale of power supply inverters to Pakistan through Western Trading, which folded in 2004.
Such inverters were vital for the supply of electricity to centrifuges used to enrich uranium in Pakistan's nuclear program, which was spearheaded by nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.