N. Korea Reactor Quiet, Inspectors Say

North Korea has not reloaded its suspect nuclear reactor while disagreeing with the United States over safer replacements, the State Department said Wednesday.

International inspectors are at the Yongbyon complex and “we remain convinced that the freeze is in place,” spokesman Nicholas Burns said.

Negotiations over replacement light-water reactors are in suspension. North Korea has rejected South Korea as the prime contractor.

The United States insists only South Korean reactors can be substituted for the stilled 5-megawatt graphite reactor suspected of producing fuel for nuclear weapons.