United Nations: Charging North Korea with indulging in "nuclear brinkmanship", a UN watchdog has said. Pyongyang's decision to re-start its fuel reprocessing facility has raised "serious non-proliferation" concerns as it has not shown any convincing peaceful use for plutonium.

"The re-processing facility at Nyongbyong is irrelevant to the DPRK's (North Korea) ability to produce electricity," head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohammed el Baradei, said.

"The DPRK has no current legitimate peaceful use for plutonium given the status of its nuclear fuel cycle."

Over the past week, North Korea has cut seals and impeded surveillance equipment at a total of three facilities at Nyongbyong: The 5-MWe reactor and the associated fuel pond, the reprocessing facility and the fuel fabrication plant.

Its technicians have also begun preparatory work to re-start the reactor.

El Baradei said the IAEA is about to issue a report on recent developments in North Korea to the agency's board of governors, which is expected to meet in the first week of January to consider these developments.

In his report, the IAEA chief is expected to say that recent unilateral actions by North Korea rendered the agency unable to verify, pursuant to its agreement with the country, that there has been no diversion of nuclear material to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.

The agency also remains unable to verify since 1993 that all nuclear material in the country has been declared and submitted to IAEA safeguards.

PTI