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发帖数: 17544 | 1 The UN nuclear agency said it had seen releases of steam and water
indicating that North Korea may be seeking to restart a reactor that experts
say would be capable of making plutonium for atomic bombs.
North Korea announced in April that it would revive its aged research
reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear complex but said it was seeking a deterrent
capacity.
Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency,
said on Thursday the Vienna-based IAEA continued to monitor developments at
Yongbyon, mainly through satellite imagery.
"Activities have been observed at the site that are consistent with an
effort to restart the 5MW(e) reactor," he told the IAEA's 35-nation board,
referring to the Yongbyon research reactor.
"However, as the agency has no access to the site, it is not possible for us
to conclusively determine whether the reactor has been re-started," he said
, according to a copy of his speech.
He later told a news conference that the IAEA has "very recently seen
activities at Yongbyon that point to possible testing" of the reactor,
including the release of steam from vents and the apparent discharge of
water into a river.
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.
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When North Korea said it planned to revive the reactor, nuclear 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.
Nuclear 'deterrent'
In September, a US research institute and a US official said satellite
imagery suggested North Korea had restarted the facility.
The US-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International
Studies said a satellite image from August 31 showed white steam rising
from a building near the hall that houses the reactor's steam turbines and
electric generators.
The reclusive Asian state has defied international warnings not to build
atomic bombs and long-range missiles. It is believed to have enough fissile
material to build up to 10 nuclear bombs, but most intelligence analysis
says it has yet to master the technology to deploy such weapons.
North Korea said in July it would not give up its nuclear "deterrent" until
Washington ends its "hostile policy" towards it, although it was ready to
revive nuclear talks.
The US envoy to the IAEA, Joseph Macmanus, said the North's "actions and
stance regarding its nuclear programme remain a cause for serious concern".
"We continue to see press reports about activity at Yongbyon, and official (
North Korean) media outlets have continued to highlight Pyongyang's intent
to 'bolster its nuclear deterrent'," he told the board.
"Far from signaling a commitment to denuclearisation, these reports indicate
a continuing pursuit of nuclear weapons." |
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