2007年VOA标准英语-UN Inspectors Look at North Korean Reactor

By Kurt Achin
Seoul
28 June 2007

More than five years after North Korea expelled nuclear inspectors¹ a team from the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency is visiting the North's main nuclear facility. The visit is a prelude² to closing the facility. As VOA's Kurt Achin reports from Seoul, the nuclear diplomacy³ that led to the shutdown is also about to yield tangible⁴ benefits for the North.

North and South Korean officials are scheduled to meet Friday and Saturday in Kaesong. Kang Jeong-seok, of South Korea's Unification Ministry⁵, says they will discuss the specifics of compensating⁶ the North for its recent cooperation in efforts to end its nuclear weapons.

Kang says delegates will discuss logistics involved in transferring 50,000 tons of fuel oil to North Korea, in keeping with the February 13th agreement.

North Korea promised in February to shut down its main nuclear reactor⁷ in Yongbyon in exchange for that aid. But Pyongyang refused to meet an April deadline for the shutdown, citing a banking⁸ dispute that was only finally resolved this Monday.

This 26 June 2007 picture, released from Korea Central News Agency 27 June, shows IAEA Deputy Director General Olli Heinonen (L) shaking hands with an unidentified North korean official upon his arrival at the Pyongyang Airport

Inspectors from the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in North Korea Tuesday to discuss the shutdown, and traveled to Yongbyon Thursday for their first look at the reactor in five years.

North Korea ejected IAEA inspectors from the country in 2002, months after U.S. officials say Pyongyang admitted to violating previous agreements by pursuing a secret uranium-based nuclear weapons program.

The United States, Russia, Japan, China, and South Korea have engaged in off-and-on diplomacy with the North ever since, aimed at negotiating a full end to Pyongyang's nuclear programs.

The nuclear inspectors are expected to propose a plan for the shutdown to be carried out within weeks, on their return to IAEA headquarters in Vienna.

Once the Yongbyon shutdown is complete, more six-nation talks are expected in Beijing next month. Negotiators hope to tackle the more ambitious next phases of the February agreement, including obtaining a full declaration of North Korea's nuclear programs.

1 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 prelude   

n.序言，前兆，序曲

参考例句：

• The prelude to the musical composition is very long.这首乐曲的序曲很长。
• The German invasion of Poland was a prelude to World War II.德国入侵波兰是第二次世界大战的序幕。

3 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

4 tangible   

adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的

参考例句：

• The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
• There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 compensating   

补偿，补助，修正

参考例句：

• I am able to set up compensating networks of nerve connections. 我能建立起补偿性的神经联系网。
• It is desirable that compensating cables be run in earthed conduit. 补偿导线最好在地下管道中穿过。

7 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

8 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。