SEOUL, Sept. 15 (Yonhap) - South Korea is hoping to adopt a treaty annex to its nuclear cooperation with the United States, in order to make a legal code for U.S. support domestic exports of plants atomic energy, said Sunday, a government source.
The treaty, which was first signed in 1956, had its last revision in 1974 and was supposed to expire in March 2014, however, both sides agreed to extend the existing agreement until 2016, a measure designed to two Governments grant more time to negotiate a revised agreement.
It is expected that by the end of this month, the two countries resume talks in Washington to review the civil nuclear cooperation agreement, which currently has 15 clauses without any additional document.
During the past three years, the main differences between the two countries at the time to renegotiate the agreement focused on Seoul's demand for right to reprocess spent fuel and enrich uranium to meet its growing energy needs, however, the Administration U.S. has been reluctant because of concerns about nuclear proliferation.
According to the government source, South Korea hopes to adopt an addendum to this agreement, including details on U.S. support for South Korean efforts to export nuclear plants, so that Seoul will propose a draft agreement in the upcoming talks . He added that the proposal is expected to include a clause on the United States to guarantee stable supply of nuclear fuel when South Korea exported nuclear and other clauses on cooperation in the management of spent fuel.
