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Empresas y finanzas

U.S. mistakenly sent nuclear missile fuses to Taiwan


    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military mistakenly shipped four fuses for nuclear missiles to Taiwan in 2006, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, adding that the parts have been returned to U.S. custody.

    The military was supposed to ship helicopter batteries toTaiwan but instead sent fuses used as part of the triggermechanism on missiles.

    No nuclear material was shipped to Taiwan, Pentagonofficials said.

    The United States has notified China, which maintains astate of war with Taiwan and is modernizing its military toclose the technology gap with Taiwan's mainly U.S. weapons.

    The fuse shipment marks the second embarrassingmisplacement of nuclear or nuclear-related equipment announcedby the Pentagon in the past year. An Air Force bomber last yearmistakenly flew over the United States with nuclear warheads.

    The Defense Department has ordered the Navy and Air Forceto take inventory of all nuclear and nuclear-associatedequipment and material and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gateshas ordered an investigation into the fuse incident, said RyanHenry, principle deputy undersecretary of defense for policy.

    "It was not crystal clear exactly what happened," he said.

    (Reporting by Kristin Roberts, Editing by PatriciaZengerle)