iafrica.com September 7, 2004
Atomic energy inspectors in SA
By Jenni Evans
Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are in South Africa helping local authorities with an investigation into an international nuclear component trafficking network, a spokesperson from the IAEA said on Monday.
"We have inspectors in South Africa working closely with South African authorities in providing assistance in these investigations," IAEA public information person Peter Rickwood told Sapa from Vienna.
This follows the arrest and court appearance last week of Vanderbijlpark engineering firm director Johan Meyer on Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Act and the Nuclear Energy Act charges.
Rickwood would not directly link the inspectors' visit to Meyer's arrest but said: "This is part of the broader investigation into the illicit trafficking network - the nuclear supply network."
He said the investigation was the result of a probe into the importing through third parties of uranium enrichment equipment.
Rickwood said the inspectors were in South Africa to "offer technical expertise" as they had deep knowledge about nuclear technology but the media would "not have access" to them.
"We can't say too much because we don't want to tip off suspects."
An employee at Meyer's company told Sapa: "I am not allowed to comment, I am not allowed to speak to the media," and his lawyer Heinrich Badenhorst said he did not have a list of items seized when his client was arrested.
Beeld newspaper said an uranium enrichment plant was transported from a factory in Vanderbijlpark in 11 trucks to Pelindaba at the weekend. They were accompanied by an IAEA inspector.
Pelindaba is the base of Necsa, a company which promotes research and development in the field of nuclear energy and radiation sciences.
A Necsa spokesperson said she had been instructed to refer all queries to the Department of Foreign Affairs, which last week issued a statement on Meyer's arrest on behalf of the SA Council for the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Abdul Minty, chairperson of the council, told Sapa that he would not answer any further questions until "the next few days".
Information was sketchy on two other people with South African connections reportedly apprehended by international authorities.
Asher Karni, formerly employed by a Cape Town engineering company, was arrested in Denver in the US in January and released on $100 000 bail into the custody of a rabbi, while a South Africa-based man called Gerhard Wisser was reportedly taken in for questioning in Germany.
On Friday the US embassy released a statement congratulating the South African authorities on their investigation as part of a crackdown on the "AQ Khan network".
Abdul Qadeer Khan was credited with providing the Pakistan government with the knowledge needed to produce it first nuclear bomb, which it tested in 1998.
Khan allegedly initially based his research on information he took from a Dutch uranium enrichment facility in the 1970s. He was forced out of his position in 1991 by Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf reportedly amid concerns over finances.
According to a report on www.globalsecurity.org, he has subsequently admitted to selling nuclear technology to other governments.
According to the report, his wife Henny is of Dutch South African origin.
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