Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 20, 1994 TAG: 9405200068
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Word of the action was relayed to American officials after a visit to the reactor site by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The inspectors were hoping to win North Korea's cooperation to verify that the small amounts of plutonium in the fuel rods would not be extracted without IAEA observation.
``I think it would be an error for North Korea to continue to thwart these inspections after they have agreed to comply with them,'' President Clinton told a news conference.
He said he needed more information before commenting further.
Plutonium is a key ingredient in the manufacture of nuclear weapons. North Korea contends its nuclear program is strictly for nonmilitary purposes, but it has balked at permitting unfettered inspections of its nuclear research facilities.
North Korea had said last weekend that it planned to take the used fuel rods out of its reactor now because they were depleted after years of use. But until Thursday's report, it had not been confirmed that the process was under way.
The CIA estimates that fuel rods removed from North Korea's reactor in the late 1980s provided enough plutonium to build one or two nuclear bombs, and that there is a better-than-even chance North Korea actually made such bombs.
The Pentagon has said that the current load of fuel rods in the reactor's core would contain enough plutonium to build four or five nuclear bombs.
The U.S. official, who discussed the matter on condition he not be identified, said it was not clear how extensively the inspectors would be allowed to monitor the reactor defueling process, which is expected to last several weeks.
The Clinton administration hopes the IAEA will work out an arrangement with North Korea that would enable the agency to certify that no nuclear fuel is being diverted to a weapons program. The administration has said that if such assurances cannot be made, it will make a diplomatic push in the U.N. Security Council to impose economic sanctions on North Korea.
IAEA inspectors also visited a radiochemical laboratory at the nuclear research center at Yongbyon to complete an inspection that was interrupted by the North Koreans in March. Kyd declined to discuss the results of that inspection work. The laboratory's work is crucial because it includes reprocessing of plutonium.
by CNB