Pak man pleads guilty to export of nuke material

A Pakistani national pleaded guilty on Friday before a United States court to charges of illegally exporting nuclear-related material to restricted entities back home, Justice Department said.

"This conviction is the product of a vigorous, cooperative joint-agency investigation focused on denying and disrupting the illegal export of controlled nuclear technology destined for Pakistan," said Eric L Hirschhorn, under secretary of commerce for industry and security.

According to his plea agreement, Nadeem Akhtar, who has been a lawful permanent resident of the US, from October 2005 to March 2010 used his company Computer Communication USA(CC-USA) to obtain or attempt to obtain radiation detection devices, resins for coolant water purification, calibration and switching equipment, attenuators, and surface refinishing abrasives for export to restricted entities in Pakistan.

These items required export licenses due to their use in both commercial and military and nuclear applications. The total worth of all of these items exceeds USD 400,000.

The restricted entities in Pakistan included organisations of concern to the US government as acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States, the Justice Department said.

These restricted entities included: Pakistan's Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission; and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and its subordinate entities, such as the Chasma Nuclear Power Plant I in Kundian, Pakistan, and the research reactor maintained by the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, a constituent institution of the PAEC in Nilare, Pakistan, specialising in nuclear-related research and development.

Exports of commodities to these organisations were prohibited absent the issuance of an export license.