AHN November 6, 2007
Experts Hail Disablement Of North Korean Nuclear Reactor
By Einnor Mendoza
Pyongyang, North Korea (AHN) - The leader in the team of U.S. experts working to disable North Korea's main nuclear reactor praised the disablement saying it is "a good start."
Commending the cooperation of the North Korean officials at the Yongbyon facility, Sung Kim said, "I hope to achieve all the disablement, at least this phase of disablement, by 31 December."
The Pyongyang main facility, which is said to produce plutonium, has already been closed as efforts of the team go for two- or three week rotations for the next two months.
The U.S. team hopes to remove the 8,000 fuel rods fueling the facility, an endeavor that started after a four-year negotiation among North Korea, South Korea, the U.S., China, Russia, and Japan, BBC News reported.
North Korea has agreed to give the details of its nuclear program in exchange for economic aids and diplomatic concessions and to disable its nuclear facility, which the U.S. officials hope to achieve by the end of 2006.
Located some 60 miles (100 km) north of Pyongyang, the Yongbyon nuclear facility was constructed in the 1960s.
Globalsecurity.org reported the North Korean nuclear weapons program began in the 1980s.
The Defense Intelligence Agency, in 2005, reported it believes North Korea may already have produced as many as 12 to 15 nuclear weapons as of then.
© Copyright 2007, AHN Media Corp
