N.Korea says steps taken to boost nuke arsenal
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea said Wednesday it had completed removing spent nuclear fuel rods from a reactor at its main nuclear complex - a move that could allow it to harvest more weapons-grade plutonium - in the communist state’s latest provocation amid a deadlock in disarmament talks.
A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said the country had “successfully completed” removing 8,000 fuel rods from the reactor at Yongbyon, according to a statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.
The step comes after South Korean officials confirmed last month that the Yongbyon reactor was shut down, which would allow the rods to be removed and be reprocessed to extract weapons-grade plutonium. The North didn’t specifically say Wednesday it would take such a step.
“We are continuing to take necessary measures to increase (our) nuclear arsenal for self-defense purposes,” the unnamed spokesman said.
The spokesman noted North Korea had already announced plans to operate its 5-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon, some 50 miles north of Pyongyang, and resume construction on a bigger reactor because the United States pulled out of a 1994 deal on the North’s nuclear program.
Worries about nuclear test
U.S. officials accused the North of running a secret uranium enrichment program in 2002 in violation of the earlier deal made under the Clinton administration, sparking the latest nuclear crisis.
Worries have also grown recently that the North is preparing to conduct a nuclear test, with U.S. officials saying last week that spy satellites show activity in northeastern Kilju that could be signs of preparations for a nuclear test, including tunnel digging and the construction of a reviewing stand a sufficient distance away.
On Tuesday, the North’s main newspaper alleged the United States was making a “fuss” by spreading reports of alleged test preparations. However, the commentary in the state-run Rodong Sinmun daily’s didn’t deny the North was planning a test.
Amid the tension, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei said over the weekend that Pyongyang already had enough plutonium to make up to six bombs.
International disarmament talks with North Korea - including China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States - have been stalled since June, with Pyongyang insisting it won’t return until Washington drops its “hostile” policy.
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