International   

U.N. team heads to reactor site

PYONGYANG (North Korea): U.N. inspectors headed to North Korea’s nuclear reactor on Thursday to discuss a long-delayed shutdown of the facility, part of international efforts that have gained new momentum in recent weeks.

The International Atomic Energy Agency team travelled from North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, to the Yongbyon reactor, about 100 km to the northeast. “We go to see the facilities and continue our discussions in more details,” said Olli Heinonen, the IAEA’s deputy director, in footage broadcast by APTN before departing for the Yongbyon complex.

The 5-megawatt reactor, believed capable of churning out enough plutonium for one atomic bomb per year, is at the centre of international efforts to halt North Korea’s nuclear programme.

North Korea invited the team to discuss details of shutting down the reactor. It is the first IAEA trip to the facility since its monitors were expelled from the country in late 2002. — AP

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

IFJ criticises Colombo move to reintroduce defamation laws
22 killed in Iraq blast
Gordon Brown revamps Cabinet
U.N. team heads to reactor site
Giant penguin fossil found
Immigration Bill stalled again in Senate
India-China relationship a big stabiliser, says Yechury
Iran to release 18 Indians

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu