ID :
193720
Fri, 07/08/2011 - 12:46
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/193720
The shortlink copeid
S. Korea, U.S. to hold third round of nuclear cooperation talks next week
SEOUL, July 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States will hold a third round of talks next week, aimed at rewriting a bilateral nuclear cooperation pact that prohibits Seoul from reprocessing spent fuel from nuclear power plants, officials at the foreign ministry said Friday.
Ambassador Park Ro-byug, South Korea's chief delegate, will leave for Washington for the July 14-15 talks with Robert Einhorn, the U.S. State Department's special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control, ministry officials said.
The nuclear accord signed with the U.S. in 1974 prevents South Korea from reprocessing fuel from civilian nuclear plants. With the accord set to expire in 2014, Seoul and Washington have been in talks to rewrite the agreement since last year.
After the second round of talks in March, South Korea put forward a new draft agreement with the U.S. to revise the expiring pact, and the U.S. side struck a positive tone on the draft, according to ministry officials.
South Korea, which produces 36 percent of its energy at 20 nuclear power plants, has to deal with more than 10,000 tons of nuclear waste at storage facilities that are expected to reach capacity in 2016.
Ambassador Park Ro-byug, South Korea's chief delegate, will leave for Washington for the July 14-15 talks with Robert Einhorn, the U.S. State Department's special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control, ministry officials said.
The nuclear accord signed with the U.S. in 1974 prevents South Korea from reprocessing fuel from civilian nuclear plants. With the accord set to expire in 2014, Seoul and Washington have been in talks to rewrite the agreement since last year.
After the second round of talks in March, South Korea put forward a new draft agreement with the U.S. to revise the expiring pact, and the U.S. side struck a positive tone on the draft, according to ministry officials.
South Korea, which produces 36 percent of its energy at 20 nuclear power plants, has to deal with more than 10,000 tons of nuclear waste at storage facilities that are expected to reach capacity in 2016.
