"It was a rather lengthy meeting but I must say it was a meeting in which we did not make a lot of progress," Christopher Hill told reporters.

"The DPRK (North Korea) is quite insistent that they want to include in the agreement a light water reactor ..."

The fourth round of six-party talks resumed this week after a five-week break. They aim to persuade the Stalinist North to give up its nuclear weapons programmes in exchange for security guarantees as well as energy and economic aid.

Pyongyang has insisted it has the right to operate peaceful nuclear energy programs and has demanded that the international community complete construction of two light-water reactors.

Under a now defunct 1994 agreement, the two light-water reactors were to have been built by a US-led consortium to replace North Korea's existing graphite-moderated reactors, which can produce weapons-grade plutonium.

But construction was suspended after the United States in 2002 accused the North of developing a secret uranium-enrichment program.

Hill earlier Wednesday ruled out building the reactors for the North, saying they were "very expensive" and "long-term" type of projects.

Related Links
SpaceDaily
Search SpaceDaily
Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express