RUSSIA WANTS IN ON NUCLEAR CONSORTIUM PROJECT.
Publication: Monitor Volume: 2 Issue: 18
Russia is prepared to join the Korea Energy Development Organization (KEDO), but only on terms attractive to its Atomic Energy Ministry, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday. (8) Although those terms were not spelled out, presumably they involve offering Moscow a contract to build at least one of the nuclear reactors to be supplied to North Korea by an international consortium that includes the United States, South Korea, and Japan. The consortium was created early last year as part of an effort to halt development of North Korea’s nuclear energy program as well as its suspected secret drive to build a nuclear weapon. Moscow, which enjoys a long history of nuclear cooperation with Korea, resented being pushed to the sidelines of the lucrative $4.5 billion project, particularly because Pyongyang had requested greater Russian participation. The issue raised further tensions between Moscow and Washington at a time when the United States was pressuring Russia to forego a nuclear construction deal with Iran that involved similar technologies.
NATO Commander Visits Russian Airborne Unit.