South Korea has formally notified the International Atomic Energy Agency of its intent to discuss safeguards arrangements for nuclear fuel to be used in nuclear-powered submarines.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said at a news conference at the agency's headquarters in Vienna on the 7th that South Korea had formally notified the secretariat of its intent to begin consultations with the IAEA on a separate arrangement under Article 14 of the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, according to Voice of America.
Grossi added that South Korea had already submitted related declarations to the IAEA and reaffirmed its commitment to fulfilling its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement and the Additional Protocol. He said he hoped consultations would continue in a spirit of transparency.
The NPT bars non-nuclear-weapon states from diverting nuclear material such as uranium to weapons development, and requires them to conclude a Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA and accept safeguards including inspections. Article 14 of the agreement, however, allows non-nuclear-weapon states to use nuclear material for non-prohibited military purposes, such as nuclear submarines, under a separate arrangement.
A Foreign Ministry official said on the 8th that the government would continue consultations with the IAEA on the nuclear submarine project under the principle of faithfully meeting international nonproliferation obligations, including the NPT and the safeguards agreement between South Korea and the IAEA.
Grossi also said a newly built uranium enrichment facility at North Korea's Yongbyon complex may already be operating or be on the verge of operation. He said photographs taken in June this year appeared to show centrifuges of the same type identified in previously released images of North Korean enrichment facilities installed in the building. The 5-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon appears to be continuing operation through a seventh fuel irradiation cycle, he said, and the light-water reactor at Yongbyon, which had been idle for some time, is believed to have resumed operation after late April.
