|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
South Korea Drafting Law on Nuclear Work
South Korea is drafting a new law that would consolidate regulations on nuclear experiments and ban any nuclear weapons development, the Korea Times reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 16, 2004). The bill is expected to be ready for presentation to the National Assembly in March and would be implemented in September if passed, the Science and Technology Ministry said yesterday. “We decided to beef up nuclear regulations to prevent awkward situations like that of last year from recurring,” said ministry official Ahn Sang-joon, referring to discoveries last year that Seoul conducted unreported experiments to produce plutonium in 1982 and enrich uranium in 2000 (see GSN, Nov. 12, 2004). “Violators of nuclear-related regulations will be subject to severe punishments, including jail terms. We are thinking of introducing a term of life imprisonment for extreme cases,” Ahn said. The law would also contain clauses regarding implementation of the Additional Protocol to the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards agreement, which South Korea adopted a year ago, according to the Times. Meanwhile, South Korea signed a research agreement earlier this month with the United States for development of a nuclear fuel incapable of being diverted for weapons production, the Times reported (Kim Tae-gyu, Korea Times, Feb. 18).
| ||||||||||
Back to top
