Yongbyon news stories on Newser

North Korea to Halt Nuclear Activities

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:44:03 CST

North Korea will suspend uranium enrichment and has agreed to a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests; it has also agreed to allow International Atomic Energy Inspectors to verify and monitor the moratoriums and confirm disablement of its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon. Today's joint announcement suggests North Korea has...

North Korea Boasts About Nuke Plant

Rob Quinn — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 03:48:40 CST

With tensions high on the Korean peninsula, North Korea has decided now would be a good time to let the world know that its nuclear program is going swimmingly. Pyongyang officials, offering the first details on what it says is a peaceful nuclear program, boasted that North Korea is building...

North Korea Nuke Facility Rattles Experts

Mary Papenfuss — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 04:36:46 CST

American scientists were stunned by the advances North Korea has made in its nuclear technology, as revealed in its new facility, they told ABC News . "None of the experts that I knew predicted the North Koreans could build anything like this," said Stanford University scientist Robert Carlin, who recently visited...

N. Korea Says It's Done With Nuke Talks

Rob Quinn — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:50:42 CDT

North Korea has vowed to never again take part in talks over its nuclear program after the "unbearable insult" of the UN Security Council's condemnation of its rocket launch, the BBC reports. A strongly worded statement from the country's foreign ministry also threatened to reactivate its partially dismantled nuclear reactor...

N. Korea Restarts Nuke Program

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 06:40:00 CDT

North Korea plans to reactivate its nuclear program and will start reinserting plutonium-producing nuclear material within a week, reports the AP. Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, said that his inspectors removed all agency seals and surveillance equipment from the country's main nuclear facility....

Seoul: N. Korea Is Rebuilding Nuclear Plant

Ambreen Ali — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:54:00 CDT

South Korea today claimed Pyongyang is restoring its nuclear facilities, just days after stopping disablement work, the AP reports. North Korea blames America for not holding up its end of the deal by failing to follow through on a June promise to reward nuclear disarmament progress by removing it from...

N. Korea Suspends Nuclear Shutdown

Rob Quinn — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 06:31:55 CDT

North Korea has halted the disablement of its nuclear facilities and says it may restore a reactor that can make material for atomic weapons, Reuters reports. Analysts say the move, which follows a visit to arch-enemy South Korea by pseudo-ally and Chinese President Hu Jintao, appears to be an effort...

N. Korea OKs Nuclear Inspections

Kevin Spak — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:22:58 CDT

North Korean disarmament talks took another halting step today, as the nation agreed in principle to a deal for invasive nuclear inspections, the Washington Post reports. Pyongyang has promised to finish dismantling its Yongbyon reactor by October, and will let inspectors verify that it's down. But negotiators in the six-nation...

N. Korea Blows Up Nuclear Tower

Kevin Spak — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:52:48 CDT

North Korea demolished the biggest symbol of its nuclear program today, destroying the water tower of its Yongbyon plutonium facility, which had been used to extract plutonium to build nuclear weapons until it was decommissioned last year. But the huge implosion wasn’t just symbolic—the tower would take at least...