TOKYO, Nov 3: A team of US technicians will on Monday start disabling North Korea’s nuclear complex which makes weapons-grade plutonium, a senior US envoy said on Saturday, under a multinational disarmament deal.
US officials estimate the North has about 50kg of plutonium. Proliferation experts say that is enough for six to eight bombs.
“They will begin the process of disabling the DPRK (North Korea) plutonium production facilities in Yongbyon,” Christopher Hill, the top US envoy to six-way talks to end Pyongyang’s nuclear arms programme, told a news conference in Tokyo.
“They will be going to Yongbyon tomorrow, and by Monday they’ll begin their work.”
North Korea has agreed to fully disclose all its atomic activities by the end of the year, and Hill confirmed that during his visit in Tokyo.
“So by the end of the year ... we hope to have arrived at an important milestone where there is a complete disablement of the Yongbyon facilities,” he said.
