Posted on 07/09/2007 6:46:40 AM PDT by The Pack Knight
United Nations nuclear inspectors have been given the go-ahead to return to North Korea to begin the process of shutting down the main nuclear reactor.
The 35-nation board of the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), met on Monday to approve the mission.
The return of inspectors will mark a key part of a deal agreed in February to shut down the Yongbyon reactor.
In exchange, Pyongyang is due to receive economic and energy aid.
The first delivery - a shipment of fuel oil - is expected to arrive from South Korea by the end of the week.
Shutdown agreements
The IAEA board met for a special one-day session in Vienna to approve the mission, which is estimated to cost some $5m (£2.48m) over two years.
It will be the first time inspections have been allowed at Yongbyon since UN monitors were expelled in 2002.
Diplomats in Vienna said the inspection team could be in North Korea within a week to begin the process of verifying the shut down of Yongbyon.
The IAEA meeting is considering the findings of the organisation's deputy director general, Olli Heinonen, and his three-man team, when they visited North Korea last month.
Their report, seen by news agencies, says inspectors have been granted access to all the facilities that are to be shut down, and will be allowed to install all the necessary equipment needed to verify the closure.
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