-
Russia also said it would shut down its last plutonium-producing reactor.
ECONOMIST: Disarmament and counter-proliferation
-
It also expelled the weapons inspectors who were monitoring its plutonium-laden spent fuel rods and a reactor capable of producing more that can be reprocessed into fissile material for nuclear bombs.
ECONOMIST: South Korea
-
North Korea was no doubt keen to keep promised oil flowing over the winter, but work to disable its plutonium-producing reactor at Yongbyon another of Mr Kim's six-party obligations has now slowed too.
ECONOMIST: Time for North Korea to come clean about its nuclear past
-
It could also be possible to provide similarly enriched fuel, perhaps from France, for the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) and LEU targets for producing medical isotopes in the reactor.
ECONOMIST: Iran and nuclear weapons
-
The existing reactor, which started producing electricity in 1971, will close by 2014.
BBC: Wales politics
-
But Iran has taken steps towards producing its own reactor fuel.
ECONOMIST: America comes between old allies
-
Under this approach, you build a reactor in plain sight, start producing plutonium, and wait for the U.S. to offer a deal.
FORBES: Dear Ali Khamenei, Here's How To Get Nukes
-
That reactor type is not ideal for producing weapons-grade plutonium, but all reactors produce plutonium that could be used in a nuclear explosion.
BBC: Yongbyon restart: North Korea ramps up nuclear tension
-
The light-water reactor, which is not capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium, was promised to North Korea in the early 1990s for the North giving up its nuclear weapons.
CNN: North Korea claims to have weaponized plutonium
-
Iran, by comparison, is producing near-weapons-grade uranium, but it also has a heavy-water reactor being developed that could produce weapons-usable plutonium.
WSJ: U.S. Opposes Japan's Nuclear Plan