Consortium ends N Korea nuclear reactor project

New York, June 1: An international consortium founded a decade ago as part of a deal with North Korea to build two light-water nuclear power plants in the communist country today said it was terminating the project.

Under a 1994 agreement between the North and the United States on freezing the North's nuclear weapons programmes, the KEDO consortium worked to build two light-water reactors and supply heavy fuel oil until the reactors were functional.

But the project run by KEDO -- short for the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization -- has been suspended since late 2002 after Washington accused North Korea of cheating on the deal.

''Effective May 31, 2006, KEDO's Executive Board formally decided to terminate the light-water reactor (LWR) project,'' KEDO said in a statement, adding that the decision was based on North Korea's failure to meet its commitments under the agreement.

The oil shipments and the reactor construction were suspended in late 2002 after US officials went to Pyongyang and confronted the North with what they said was evidence of clandestine nuclear activities in violation of the 1994 deal.

Washington accused North Korea of pursuing a separate nuclear programme based on uranium enrichment technology. North Korea has consistently denied the charge.

The United States, Japan, South Korea and the European Union, which make up KEDO, had already agreed in principle to terminate the light-water reactor project.

Its end means a huge financial loss for South Korea. It had spent 1.1 billion dollars on the project, footing most of the bill.

Reuters