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North Korea running secret nuclear plant

North Korea running secret nuclear plant
channelnewsasia.com 18 Feb 09 SEOUL: North Korea is operating a secret underground plant to make nuclear bombs from highly enriched uranium (HEU) despite denying that such a programme exists, a South Korean newspaper said Wednesday.

Dong-A Ilbo, quoting an unnamed senior government source, said South Korea and the United States have shared intelligence on the plant in Yongbyon district……………………
…………. Dong-A said both countries believe the facility can produce HEU for nuclear bombs. It said the plant is located at Sowi-ri in Yongbyon, North Pyongan Province, where the North’s plutonium-based nuclear complex is situated.

The source was quoted as declining to give further details such as the technological level and the output of highly enriched uranium.

The North in 1994 signed a deal with the United States to shut down its admitted plutonium-producing reactor complex at Yongbyon in return for various incentives………….
………….. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who visits Seoul on Thursday and Friday, told a Senate confirmation hearing last month Washington is still concerned about the HEU programme.

“Our goal is to end the North Korean nuclear programme — both the plutonium reprocessing programme and the highly enriched uranium programme, which there is reason to believe exists, although never quite verified,” she said.

Channelnewsasia.com

February 18, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized