D Murphy wrote:

F. George McDuffee wrote in
:

it
allegedly exported machinery to China and Thailand that == could ==
be used in uranium enrichment.
========================================
Hammers and screwdrivers *ARE* used in uranium enrichment.

More anti-terror BS. FWIW -- the PRC has had nukes for like 30
years.

Japan, Inc. has many financial problems and is an aging society
with no immigration. Their politicians need something [anything]
external to blame their troubles on and occupy public attention.

It was a high end CMM, so a bit different than a screwdriver. Actually
three of them IIRC. Anyway they got pinched a few years back for the same
thing with North Korea. As I recall the original purchaser of the CMM was
legit, but it ended up on the black market. I don't know how they expect
the manufacturer to keep tabs on the equipment after it leaves their
factory.

As an aside, the Japanese government tracks every sale of every Japanese
built machine tool. They have forms to fill out and they want to know who
bought it, where it was installed, and what type of industry it's being
used in.

--

Dan


A company in the US bought a machine tool that was not supposed to be in
the US. Somehow the machine tool mfgr. got charged for the import of
the machine, probably on its quota limit. Anyway, when they came to put
the machine together the serial number of the machine was sent back to
the home office in Japan. The technicians all walked off the job and
would not touch the machine. It took them a couple of years to find
someone to assemble the machine. They still have problems getting
factory parts for the machine.

John