Secret North Korean nuclear plant traced

By ADAM ENTOUS

WACO, Texas - North Korea may have built a second, secret facility for producing weapons-grade plutonium as part of efforts to enlarge its nuclear arsenal, say United States officials.

The disclosure, first reported by the New York Times and confirmed by officials in Washington, could lead to an escalation in the festering diplomatic showdown between North Korea and the US over Pyongyang's atomic weapons programme.

White House officials, although not confirming the report, insisted that Washington would continue to work with its allies in the region to press Pyongyang to reverse course.

"We do not discuss intelligence matters so I'm not going to get into specifics about the report," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters travelling with President George W. Bush in Texas.

But he cited a series of "escalatory steps" by North Korea since it stated publicly last year that it had a covert nuclear weapons programme.

They ranged from the expulsion of international inspectors to its assertion that it had begun reprocessing spent fuel rods, a move McClellan singled out as a "particular concern".

"North Korea has no legitimate use for plutonium harvested during this procedure," he said.

"And reprocessing to recover plutonium is a clear indication that North Korea is intent on enlarging its nuclear arsenal despite repeated calls from the international community for it to reverse the provocative steps it has taken and end its nuclear weapons programme."

North Korea has told Washington that it has completed reprocessing 8000 spent nuclear fuel rods, or enough to make about half a dozen nuclear weapons.

US officials have said they cannot verify that claim but, says the New York Times, they confirm that sensors on North Korea's borders have begun detecting elevated levels of krypton 85, a gas emitted as spent fuel is converted into plutonium.

Computer analyses tracking the gases as they are blown across the Korean Peninsula appear to rule out North Korea's main nuclear plant at Yongbyon, strongly suggesting that the gas originates from a second, secret plant, perhaps buried in the mountains, says the newspaper.

The findings represent the first time evidence has emerged that a second plant may be in operation in North Korea.

Officials with the CIA and the State Department declined to comment.

"We will continue working closely with our friends and allies toward our shared objective of a complete, verifiable and irreversible end to North Korea's nuclear weapons programme," McClellan said.

China has been attempting to arrange a resumption of talks on North Korea but the US has turned down Beijing's overtures for a multilateral forum for the discussions with the possibility of direct bilateral talks between Washington and Pyongyang.

The US went to war against Iraq over Saddam Hussein's yet-to-be-found weapons of mass destruction.

But so far Washington still wants a peaceful solution to the North Korean issue, leading to North Korea's verifiable dismantling of its nuclear weapons programme, while not ruling out a military option.

- REUTERS