N. Korea Opens Nuke Plant to Foreign Media

Controversial Yongbyon facility at core of disarmament talks
By Jim O'Neill,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 23, 2008 7:52 AM CST
N. Korea Opens Nuke Plant to Foreign Media
In this image from television North Korean workers in the reactor hall clean the floor at North Korea's main nuclear reactor in Yongbyon, Friday, Feb. 22, 2008. North Korea opened its main nuclear reactor to foreign media for the first time Friday in a bid to show that it is complying with a disarmament...   (Associated Press)

North Korea opened its controversial Yongbyon nuclear reactor to the foreign media yesterday, the first time the 5-megawatt plant at the core of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and the target of international disarmament talks has been seen by journalists,  ABC News reports. The visit seemed to be a sign the Communist government wants a disarmament-for-aid deal to proceed.

Journalists watched as workers in protective gear removed spent fuel rods from the reactor, a key to the deal with the US, Japan, China, Russia, and South Korea. The government has closed the Yongbyon cooling tower, effectively shutting down the reactor. Experts say the Koreans have created enough plutonium for a dozen bombs and exported weapons technology to Syria. (More North Korea stories.)

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