2007年VOA标准英语-UN Nuclear Agency Confirms North Korea Has Shut

By Roger Wilkison
Bangkok
16 July 2007

The head of the United Nations nuclear agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, says his inspectors¹ have confirmed that North Korea has shut down its nuclear reactor² at Yongbyon, a key step in efforts to halt the country's production of nuclear weapons. From Bangkok, Roger Wilkison reports ElBaradei says North Korea's move is positive but that there is still a long way to go before its nuclear arsenal³ is dismantled⁴.

IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei talks to members of the media during the meeting on science and technology assembly in Bangkok, Thailand, 16 July 2007

At a scientific meeting in the Thai capital, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that North Korea has taken the first step under its agreement last February to halt nuclear weapons production.

"Yes, the Yongbyon reactor has been shut down. We have verified the shutdown of the reactor," he said. "We are going through verifying the shutdown of the other five facilities and by tomorrow, after tomorrow, we will be able to report that all the five facilities have been shut down."

ElBaradei says it will take his inspectors, who arrived in North Korea on Saturday, about a month to install seals and monitoring equipment to make sure Pyongyang keeps the reactor closed.

North Korea said on Sunday it had shut down its plutonium-producing reactor, about the time it received a shipment of oil from South Korea as part of February's aid-for-disarmament agreement.

Seoul says it sent a second shipment of oil to the impoverished⁵ North on Monday.

Six-party talks to map out the next phase of Pyongyang's disarmament begin in Beijing on Wednesday.

ElBaradei says that the shutdown of Yongbyon is only an initial step.

Referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK, he says it now has to provide a complete list of its nuclear arms facilities.

"Well, the next step, obviously, will be through the six-party talks to agree on how to disable these facilities when the DPRK will come with an inventory⁶ of all its nuclear materials and facilities," he said. "That, obviously, will take some time. It's a complicated process."

The United States says North Korea has a secret program to make bombs out of highly enriched uranium. Pyongyang has never publicly acknowledged having that program, but the other countries in the six-party talks say it must be declared as part of the nuclear disarmament deal.

Speaking to reporters in Seoul, the chief U.S. negotiator at the talks, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, also called on Pyongyang to fully⁷ declare its nuclear assets.

"We will work on looking ahead to how we are going to get to the full declaration. The full declaration needs to be full," he said. "We need to look at all aspects of denuclearization. So we'll see. We're taking this step by step."

Hill says he expects the negotiations⁸ with North Korea to be long and difficult.

1 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

3 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

4 dismantled   

拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消

参考例句：

• The plant was dismantled of all its equipment and furniture. 这家工厂的设备和家具全被拆除了。
• The Japanese empire was quickly dismantled. 日本帝国很快被打垮了。

5 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 inventory   

n.详细目录，存货清单

参考例句：

• Some stores inventory their stock once a week.有些商店每周清点存货一次。
• We will need to call on our supplier to get more inventory.我们必须请供应商送来更多存货。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。