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NKorea grants UN nuclear watchdog access to Yongbyon: IAEA
Vienna (AFP) Oct 13, 2008 North Korea has granted the UN atomic watchdog access to its nuclear facilities at Yongbyon after having barred agency inspectors last week, the IAEA said Monday, following a deal between Washington and Pyongyang. North Korea "today granted the agency access to the 5 Megawatt Experimental Nuclear Power Plant, the Nuclear Fuel Fabrication Plant and the reprocessing facility at Yongbyon," the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement. "As you will recall, (North Korea) informed the IAEA on 9 October that its access to these facilities would no longer be permitted." The IAEA added that "agency inspectors were also informed today that, as of tomorrow, 14 October, core discharge activities at the reactor would be resumed, monitored by agency inspectors." North Korea's moves also allow inspectors to resume "containment and surveillance measures at the reprocessing facility." The IAEA said it had not yet been briefed on details of the verification measures agreed by the United States and North Korea. "We assume that we will be fully briefed once all the six parties (in the negotiations) have met to consider it," the agency said. It added that any new role for the IAEA would have to be approved by the agency's board. Yongbyon was shut down in July 2007 under an aid-for-disarmament deal agreed by the two Koreas, the United States, Russia, China and Japan after the North staged its first nuclear weapons test in October 2006. Angry at Washington's refusal to remove it from a terrorism blacklist, Pyongyang recently vowed to restart the Yongbyon nuclear reactor. Pyongyang had expected to be struck from the list weeks after it submitted a declaration in June of its nuclear activities, but Washington had insisted it agree to a verification regime first. On Saturday, the United States struck North Korea from the blacklist after saying Pyongyang agreed to steps to verify its nuclear disarmament and pledged to resume disabling its atomic plants. The deal was aimed at reviving the historic six-party disarmament negotiations threatened with collapse just months before US President George W. Bush leaves office on January 20. North Korea had said Sunday it would resume work to disable plutonium-producing nuclear plants and readmit UN inspectors following the agreement. The deal on delisting came after an intense series of telephone consultations between US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her partners in the negotiations -- and despite misgivings from Japan. Japan had urged the United States, its main ally, not to delist North Korea, pressing first for more information on the fate of Japanese civilians who were kidnapped in the 1970s and 1980s to train the regime's spies. UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday hailed the agreement between Washington and Pyongyang as another step toward a nuclear-free Korean peninsula. Related Links Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
NKorea vows to disable nuclear plants after deal with US
Seoul (AFP) Oct 12, 2008North Korea said Sunday it would resume work to disable plutonium-producing nuclear plants and readmit UN inspectors after the United States removed it from a terrorism blacklist. |
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