North Korea Shuts Down Reactor

UN nuclear inspectors to confirm claim; first fuel oil shipment arrives
By Caroline Zimmerman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 14, 2007 6:02 PM CDT
North Korea Shuts Down Reactor
International Atomic Energy Agency inspection team chief Adel Tolba, left, walks with IAEA spokesman Ayhan Evrensel as they prepare to depart on a flight to North Korea at Beijing airport Saturday, July 14, 2007. A team of IAEA inspectors took a scheduled flight to Pyongyang on Saturday morning, to...   (Associated Press)

North Korea claimed to have shut down the nuclear reactor at Yongbyon today, just hours after a ship arrived bearing the first installment of the fuel oil that  was promised in exchange for closing the reactor. UN inspectors are headed to the site to confirm the shutdown, the first major step towards disarmament in five years, the AP reports.

The US, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia have promised Pyongyang a wide range of other incentives to fully de-nuclearize. Envoy Christopher Hill said the next step is a complete list of the country's other nuclear facilities.  (More North Korea stories.)

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