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IAEA says sees signs North Korea reactor may be operating

World News

04-09-2014 | 10:12

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IAEA says sees signs North Korea reactor may be operating

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The U.N. nuclear watchdog said it has seen releases of steam and water indicating that North Korea may be operating a reactor, in the latest update on a plant that experts say could make plutonium for atomic bombs.

North Korea announced in April of last year that it would revive its aged five-megawatt research reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear complex, saying it was seeking a deterrent capacity.

The isolated and poverty-stricken state defends its nuclear program as a "treasured sword" to counter what it sees as U.S.-led hostility.

North Korea's nuclear program "remains a matter of serious concern", the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in an annual report posted on the U.N. agency's website.

The Vienna-based IAEA continued to monitor developments at Yongbyon through satellite imagery, it said.

"Since late August 2013, the Agency has observed, through analysis of satellite imagery, steam discharges and the outflow of cooling water at the 5 MW(e) reactor, signatures which are consistent with the reactor's operation," the IAEA said.

"However, since the Agency has had no access to the 5 MW(e) reactor since April 2009, it cannot confirm the operational status of the reactor," it said. North Korea expelled IAEA inspectors in 2009 and the agency has had no inspectors in the country since then.

The Yongbyon reactor has been technically out of operation for years. North Korea destroyed its cooling tower in 2008 as a confidence-building step in talks with South Korea, China, the United States, Japan and Russia.

When North Korea said it planned to revive it, experts said it would probably take about half a year to get it up and running, if it had not suffered significant damage from neglect.

REUTERS

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