US and allies warn North Korea amid reactor fears

Shaun Tandon news.yahoo.com The United States and its allies warned North Korea against provocations as researchers reported potential radiation risks due to problems at the regime's main nuclear complex. The United States, South Korea and Japan, meeting in Washington after a new period of tension, condemned North Korea's recent ballistic missile tests and called again for an end to the regime's nuclear weapons program. The three nations "urged the DPRK to refrain from further threatening actions," said a US statement, referring to the North by its official name of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. South Korea has been on guard after North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-Un warned last week of a "very grave" situation on the divided peninsula as he accused Seoul and Washington of trampling peace gestures through joint exercises. In recent weeks, North Korea has test-fired medium-range ballistic missiles capable of hitting Japan, conducted a live-fire drill along its disputed border with South Korea and apparently flew three rudimentary drones over the border to peer at Seoul's military facilities.

A US think tank, reviewing recent satellite images, said Monday that North Korea's main Yongbyon nuclear site appeared to have suffered water supply problems due to heavy rain and floods last summer.

An unstable supply could pose radiation risks, especially at North Korea's first light water reactor, which is near completion, according to the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

The regime does not have experience operating the light water reactor and "the rapid loss of water used to cool the reactor could result in a serious safety problem," analyst Nick Hansen wrote on the institute's blog, 38 North.

North Korea has more experience with its restarted plutonium production reactor at Yongbyon but its "lack of airtight containment could lead to the escape of some radioactivity even in small accidents."

The published analysis comes after South Korean President Park Geun-Hye warned that Yongbyon could witness a Chernobyl-style disaster, one of a series of comments that enraged North Korea...