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U.S. Against Resumption of S.Korean Nuclear Energy Program
The U.S. administration made it clear to Congress that it is against restoring South Korea's peaceful nuclear program by means of reprocessing spent fuel, advanced mainly by the ruling Grand National Party. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Ellen Tauscher made the point in an 85-page answer to Senator Richard Lugar, the secretary of the Foreign Relations Committee, in the course of her confirmation hearing on June 9.The relevant section has two parts. Lugar asks, "Does the administration contemplate any changes in existing nuclear cooperation agreements, in particular those with Taiwan and the Republic of South Korea, to allow reprocessing of U.S.-origin materials in those nations?" Tauscher replied that "programmatic consent" for reprocessing given to the EU, Japan and India under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 cannot be extended to South Korea and Taiwan. "The administration does not believe that such programmatic consent to reprocessing is necessarily appropriate in other cases, including Taiwan and the Republic of Korea," she said. In other words, Washington sees no need to revise the Seoul-Washington nuclear cooperation agreement so the South can reprocess nuclear fuel. She also agreed when asked, "Do you believe that an agreement that allowed any form of reprocessing to take place in South Korea would violate the 1992 Joint Declaration, in particular its clean statement that 'the South and the North shall not possess nuclear reprocessing and uranium enrichment facilities'?" Coinciding with North Koreas second nuclear weapons test and resumption of nuclear programs, the answer sends a clear message that no reprocessing of spent fuel can be allowed to South Korea and Taiwan even in these circumstances. The Barack Obama administration apparently feels the call by South Korean conservatives for Seoul to resume its own nuclear program would send the wrong message to the world. Democrats and Republicans in Congress largely agree. Cheong Wa Dae and the South Korean Embassy in Washington have made it clear that a call for nuclear armament in the South is not the official government position. "If South Korea violates the denuclearization treaty by reprocessing spent fuel and enriching uranium in the face of U.S. opposition, the price will be high," a diplomatic source in Washington warned. Posted by: Steve White 2009-07-01 |
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