Abnormal radiation detected near Korean border
June 21, 2010 The Science Ministry said its investigation ruled out a nuclear
test by North Korea, but failed to determine the source of the
radiation. It said there was no evidence of a strong earthquake,
which follows an atomic explosion.
On May 12, North Korea claimed its scientists succeeded in
creating a nuclear fusion reaction - a technology necessary to
manufacture a hydrogen bomb. In its announcement, the North did not
say how it would use the technology, only calling it a
"breakthrough toward the development of new energy."
South Korean experts doubted the North actually made such a
breakthrough. Scientists around the world have been experimenting
with fusion for decades, but it has yet to be developed into a
viable energy alternative.
On May 15, however, the atmospheric concentration of xenon - an
inert gas released after a nuclear explosion or and radioactive
leakage from a nuclear power plant - on the South Korean side their
shared border was found to be eight times higher than normal,
according to South Korea's Science Ministry.
South Korea subsequently looked for signs of a powerful,
artificially induced earthquake. Experts, however, found no signs
of a such a quake in North Korea, a ministry statement said.
"We determined that there was no possibility of an underground
nuclear test," it said. The ministry said the gas is not harmful.
While any fusion test would have registered seismic activity,
according to nuclear expert Whang Joo-ho of South Korea's Kyung Hee
University, the presence of xenon could also have come from a leak.
Since the wind was blowing from north to south when the xenon
was detected, a Science Ministry official said the gas could not
have originated from any nuclear power plants in South Korea.
But the official - speaking on condition of anonymity, citing
department policy - said the xenon could have come from Russia or
China. Whang agreed, saying a nuclear test or radioactive leakage
would be the only reasons that could explain the atmospheric
concentration of xenon reported by the ministry.
A Vienna-based United Nations agency, however, said no signs of
increased radioactivity were detected last month along the Korean
border.
"We have not registered anything that would raise any
suspicion," said Kirsten Haupt, a spokeswoman for the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, a U.N. agency that
looks for signs of nuclear testing worldwide.
Earlier Monday, South Korea's mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo
newspaper reported that North Korea may have conducted a
small-sized nuclear test, citing the abnormal radioactivity. The
paper cited an atomic expert it did not identify.
North Korea - which is believed to have enough weaponized
plutonium for at least a half-dozen nuclear weapons, conducted two
underground nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, drawing international
condemnation and U.N. sanctions.
The news of the detected radiation comes as tension is running
high on the Korean peninsula over the deadly sinking of a South
Korean warship blamed on a North Korean torpedo attack. North Korea
flatly denies the allegation and has warned any punishment would
trigger war, as the U.N. Security Council reviews Seoul's request
for action over the sinking.
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