N Korea destroys nuclear reactor tower
Saturday, 28 June 2008
SEOUL, June 27 (Agencies): North Korea destroyed the most visible symbol of its nuclear weapons programme Friday, according to a news report, in a sign of its commitment to stop making plutonium for atomic bombs.
The reported demolition of the 60-foot-tall cooling tower at its main reactor complex was a gesture in response to US concessions granted after the North delivered a declaration Thursday of its nuclear programs under an agreement at international arms talks.
South Korean TV network MBC said the reactor blast occurred shortly after 4 pm local time before an audience of international TV cameras. There were no other immediate details.
The symbolic explosion came just 20 months after Pyongyang shocked the world by detonating a nuclear bomb in an underground test to confirm its status as an atomic power. The nuclear blast spurred an about-face in the US hard-line policy against Pyongyang, leading to the North's first steps to scale back its nuclear weapons development since the reactor became operational in 1986.
The reported demolition of the 60-foot-tall cooling tower at its main reactor complex was a gesture in response to US concessions granted after the North delivered a declaration Thursday of its nuclear programs under an agreement at international arms talks.
South Korean TV network MBC said the reactor blast occurred shortly after 4 pm local time before an audience of international TV cameras. There were no other immediate details.
The symbolic explosion came just 20 months after Pyongyang shocked the world by detonating a nuclear bomb in an underground test to confirm its status as an atomic power. The nuclear blast spurred an about-face in the US hard-line policy against Pyongyang, leading to the North's first steps to scale back its nuclear weapons development since the reactor became operational in 1986.