North Korea Blows Up Cooling Tower in Nuclear Concession

North Korea today took a dramatic and visually symbolic step towards dismantling its atomic arsenal by blowing up a 20-meter cooling tower at its main nuclear reactor complex, reports said.

The tower at the Yongbyon nuclear facility, 60 miles north of Pyongyang, was destroyed in a controlled blast shortly after 4pm (0800 BST), South Korea's MBC television reported.

The event was scheduled to have been broadcast live by foreign media crews invited to witness the destruction, but this was prevented by apparent technical problems. There was no official confirmation that the cooling tower had been destroyed.

The tower was the single most visible symbol of North Korea's nuclear ambitions, topping the plant that produced the plutonium used in the country's first atomic weapons test, in October 2006.

As part of long and complex negotiations with the US, China and other nations over ending nuclear development in exchange for concessions, the reactor at Yongbyon was switched off last year. The facility is now being fully disabled, under the scrutiny of US experts.

The process of ending nuclear work in North Korea took another significant step yesterday when the country submitted a long-awaited inventory of its atomic activities. This prompted the US to initiate steps to remove Pyongyang from its list of states that sponsor terrorism.

The breakthrough, which will also see Washington lift some sanctions and Pyongyang demolish some of its nuclear facilities, is expected to jump-start six-party talks aimed at easing 55 years of tension on the peninsula.

For George Bush, the compromise represents a remarkable turnaround from the days when he labeled North Korea a part of the "axis of evil".

Yesterday, he was cautiously upbeat about the prospects for progress. "Today is a positive day, it's a positive step forward. There's more work to be done and we've got the process in place to get it done in a verifiable way," Bush said. US financial sanctions would be lifted within 45 days, on condition that international inspectors verified the inventory, the president said.

The much-anticipated dossier was handed over by the North Korean ambassador, Choe Jin-Su, to the Chinese government, which has hosted the six-party talks on the denuclearisation of the peninsula.

Six months overdue, the declaration of the secretive nation's nuclear materials, facilities and programs was expected to be limited to the processing of plutonium and not to include a list of its nuclear weapons, which would come later.

Nor was it thought likely to address US claims that Pyongyang has exported nuclear technology to Syria and covertly launched its own uranium enrichment programme.

The economic impact will be limited. Bush said the US would continue to observe North Korea's actions carefully and that UN sanctions would remain in effect. For its international isolation to end, Pyongyang had to fully disclose its nuclear activities and meet other obligations, he said.

But the symbolism of the change in status is important. Pyongyang has been on the rogue list for 20 years and tested a nuclear weapon less than two years ago.

Following today's destruction of the cooling tower, tougher tasks lie ahead, including assessing, locating and eliminating North Korea's atomic arsenal in return for economic aid and diplomatic recognition.

The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, expressed caution today at a meeting of G8 nations in Tokyo.

"There is a long road ahead," she said. "We know North Korea has a record of not living up to its obligations."

Rice assured her hosts that moves by Washington to reward North Korea must keep in mind resolving questions over the abduction of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 80s.

North Korea has admitted to kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens, used to train spies in Japanese language and culture.

The US is particularly keen to verify the amount of nuclear material produced by North Korea.

According to the AFP news agency, the North Korean inventory is likely to include a 37kg (81lb) plutonium stockpile - less than the 40-50kg that US intelligence officials have estimated it has. US officials said they expected the amount to be within intelligence agency estimates.

The accuracy of the inventory will be assessed over the next 45 days by international inspectors at the Yongbyon plant.

Estimates earlier this year by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security reckoned that Pyongyang had between 28-50kg of weapons-grade plutonium, enough for six to 10 bombs. Officials also said disagreements over whether North Korea had been enriching uranium had to be resolved.