U.S. scientist warns against hyping North Korea threat

[Better Believe It]

U.S. scientist warns against hyping North Korea threat
Reuters
December 2, 2010

The world should take the threat from North Korea's apparent uranium enrichment program seriously but should not hype it, the U.S. nuclear scientist who saw hundreds of centrifuges there said on Tuesday.

The scientist, Stanford University's Siegfried Hecker, told a briefing if the North wanted fissile material for bombs it would have made more sense for it to reactivate its plutonium-based program rather than pursue uranium enrichment.

Hecker spoke to reporters after his revelations about Pyongyang's nuclear program and a North Korean artillery attack on a South Korean island on Tuesday ratcheted up tension on the divided peninsula.

Hecker speculated that a motive for the North showing him hundreds of centrifuges during a rare visit by a U.S. scientist on November 12 was to demonstrate a uranium enrichment program with a "cover story" -- that this was to develop fuel to power a light water reactor.

Hecker, however, stressed that people should not exaggerate the potential threat from Pyongyang, which many experts say is engaged in a game of brinkmanship with the West over its nuclear ambitions.

"Take threat seriously, but don't hype it," Hecker said in an appearance at Washington's Korea Economic Institute.

Read the full article at:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AM4N120101123?feedName=OutloudFeed&feedType=RSS&rpc=1120