KEDO head holds out hope for reactor work

Even if there is a delay in the delivery of a key nuclear component to the two light-water power reactors in North Korea, the international construction project there may not be suspended, a project official said yesterday.
The head of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, Charles Kartman, said no decision has been made on a suspension. Before meeting with Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan yesterday, Mr. Kartman also said there diplomacy was still under way to keep the project alive.
The key component ― a drainage tank under the reactor ― cannot be delivered until the organization and North Korea sign a nuclear liability agreement that makes Pyeongyang responsible for nuclear accidents at the reactor site. The delay is holding up other aspects of the project, other officials in Seoul said.