The pumps, gauges, valves, piping and other equipment found at Tradefin were designed to control the flow of uranium hexafluoride into 1,000 centrifuges, link them and process the enriched uranium at the end of the cycle, according to interviews, drawings and court affidavits.
Tradefin's owner, Johan A.M. Meyer, 53, was arrested a day after the raid and charged with trafficking in nuclear technology. He quickly struck a deal to provide evidence in exchange for dismissal of the charges.
Meyer, who worked in South Africa's uranium enrichment program in the 1980s, admitted in a sworn statement that he knew the complicated system was for a nuclear plant.
But he was unaware that Libya was its ultimate destination, defense attorney Heinrich Badenhorst said in an interview.
In his deal with prosecutors, Meyer implicated two associates, Gerhard Wisser, 65, and Daniel Geiges, 66, according to court records.
Wisser, a German, and Geiges, who is Swiss, both immigrated to South Africa in the late 1960s and became citizens. They were arrested on trafficking charges and freed on bail this month.
Wisser, whom prosecutors portray as the conduit to the Khan network, has long been managing director of Krisch Engineering, a consulting firm in Randburg, a suburb of Johannesburg. Geiges has worked for him since 1978.
Krisch Engineering imported equipment for South Africa's nuclear program in the 1980s in violation of international sanctions, according to a sworn affidavit from Van Beek, the anti-proliferation official.
During the same period, a second company in Germany that Wisser owned sent nuclear-related components to South Africa. Records show that German authorities revoked the firm's export privileges after learning of the shipments.
Both Wisser and Geiges have maintained their innocence regarding the Libyan deal, saying they thought the equipment was for a water purification plant in an unknown country.
A South African magistrate said the explanations lacked "the ring of truth," citing Wisser's experience with the nuclear industry.
A fourth person associated with the South African connection, Gotthard Lerch, 61, was arrested this month by Swiss authorities on a German warrant accusing him of receiving $4.25 million to help Libya develop nuclear weapons. His office outside Zurich was raided the same day that South African police showed up at Tradefin.
