NEW YORK: Reuter: Shipments of heavy water from a U.S: Nuclear Plant was illegally rerouted through West Germany to Pakistan several years ago for use in Nuclear Weapons, CBS television reported on January 30.
CBS said Department of Energy Records show the Sawannah River Plant in South Carolina in the 1960’s sold 12.5 tonnes of heavy water to a West German firm. The water was sent to France 15 to 20 years later.
According to the records, tritium gas, used to boost the explosive power of nuclear weapons, was extracted from the water and was sold and resold until it reached a West German firm NTG, which allegedly sold it to Pakistan along with a plant to purify it, CBS said. The Pakistan Government has long denied having nuclear weapons.
Energy Department spokesman could not be reached for comment.
In related news, Pakistan said it would seek to reassure the United States that its controversial Nuclear Programme was peaceful.
“Pakistan never tried to manufacture a nuclear bomb, nor would it ever do so in the future,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 10, 1989
