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Japan's Asahi Shimbun reported Monday the U.S. planned to limit non-nuclear powers permitted to enrich uranium to Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil and Argentina, and allow only Japan to reprocess spent fuel rods.
The paper said quoting a high-ranking U.S. official Washington conceived the initiative to pre-empt the emergence of more nations like North Korea or Iran that seek to develop nuclear weapons on the basis of a peaceful nuclear program. However, it said the initiative was likely to run into opposition for attempting to divide countries into nuclear classes.
The paper said the official unveiled the plan ahead of a Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference set to open Monday in New York, but it was not clear whether Washington would propose it during the meeting.
Uranium enrichment makes it possible to use natural uranium as fuel, while reprocessing takes spent fuel rods and processes them so they can be reused.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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