A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman earlier said the consortium, led by the United States, European Union, South Korea and Japan, could be prevented from taking equipment, documents and other items out of the Stalinist state.

"North Korea is obligated to allow the safe removal of equipment from the site," said State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli.

"KEDO has reminded North Korea of its obligations in this regard, and we expect it to comply."

The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) was set up to build the plant under a now-ruptured 1994 anti-nuclear pact between Washington and Pyongyang.

But the multi-billion dollar project looks set to be halted as a nuclear showdown rages with the Stalinist state.

After a two-day meeting in New York, the consortium said Tuesday it would announce a decision on the fate of the project by November 21.

The United States had demanded at least a suspension of the project, despite reservations from South Korea that such a move could enrage North Korea and dent prospects for new talks on the North's attempts to build nuclear weapons.

The project was mandated under the 1994 US-North Korea Agreed Framework, which Washington considers was broken by Pyongyang's renewed attempts to develop weapons.

Under the deal North Korea froze a plutonium processing facility in return for regular fuel oil shipments from the United States. South Korea and Japan were to pay for the bulk of the reactor construction.

The US government cut the fuel shipments to North Korea late last year and has withheld funds for the consortium.

The project to build two 1,000-megawatt light-water nuclear reactors was originally scheduled for completion this year. But experts say there it could not be finished before 2008/2009.

WAR.WIRE