A Japanese daily says China confiscated a chemical solvent that can be used to extract weapons-grade plutonium from a train bound for North Korea last summer.

The Asahi Shimbun said the Chinese government seized the material from the train bound for Pyongyang from Dandung on a tip from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

The report said the material, known as tri-n-butyl phosphate or T-B-P, can be used as an agent in the process of refining plutonium or uranium after separating them from other nuclear fissile materials.