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North Korea Shuts Down Reactor

Tobias Grote-Beverborg (act)July 16, 2007

According to the UN's nuclear watchdog, North Korea has shut down its controversial reactor at Yongbyon. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, El-Baradei, spoke of a "positive step in the right direction". According to plan then, the six-nation talks between the US, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia can take place in Beijing on Wednesday.

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North Korea's spent nuclear fuel rods kept in a cooling pond at Yongbyon
North Korea's spent nuclear fuel rods kept in a cooling pond at YongbyonImage: AP

After four and a half years of absence, the inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, returned to North Korea last weekend. The team went directly from Pyongyang airport to Yongbyon, about a hundred kilometres northeast of the capital, setting to work immediately.

At the same time, North Korea told the US that it had switched off its reactor. And on Monday, the IAEA head El-Baradei officially confirmed the shutdown.

But he made clear that it was only the first step: "The next step will be to agree on how to disable these facilities, when the DPRK (North Korea) comes with an inventory of all its nuclear material and facilities."

Long process

"That will obviously take some time -- it's a complicated process," El-Baradei added. "We will have to verify the correctness and completeness of the DPRK's declaration of material and facilities."

"Ultimately, also, we will have to go and make sure that the nuclear weapon arsenal is dismantled. So, it's a very positive step that we are taking this week but there's still a long way to go."

The chief US negotiator, Christopher Hill, also realises it will not happen overnight: "This is a first step but it's only meaningful if we make additional steps. We have a lot of work to do."

"Obviously we are very pleased by this step but we realise how long it took, how long it took to get here. So I think we have to really work very hard for the additional steps that are very necessary."

Oil reward

North Korea had agreed to shut down the Yongbyon reactor in February. The deal was that the Communist state would get 50,000 tonnes of oil in return for making this first step. The first oil delivery from South Korea took place on Saturday and a second oil tanker was already on its way.

So there are some encouraging signs but North Korea has said that it will only make further steps towards nuclear disarmament if the US lifts its economic sanctions. Moreover, Pyongyang wants North Korea to be taken off the US' list of countries accused of supporting terrorism.

On Tuesday, Christopher Hill will meet his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye Gwan to prepare the next round of six-nation talks, which begins in Beijing on Wednesday. The two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the US will then try to establish how the disarmament process should be taken further.