A satellite picture of the Yongbyon Nuclear Centre, located north of Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP)

Paris, Sept. 24: North Korea has barred international inspectors from a nuclear reprocessing plant that produces weapons-grade plutonium and intends to restart activity there in a week, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today.

The decision by North Korea came as the Vienna-based nuclear agency also announced it had completed the removal of all seals and surveillance cameras from the plant, one of several sites at its vast Yongbyon nuclear complex, which processes spent nuclear fuel rods for plutonium. The removal was carried out following a formal request to the agency two days ago.

The reprocessing of nuclear fuel from spent fuel rods could begin within months, according to arms control experts. It would take years, by contrast, for North Korea to produce fresh nuclear fuel if it decided to restart its nuclear reactor, which is also on the complex at Yongbyon.

The decision by the North was a serious setback both for the Bush administration and for an international nuclear disarmament agreement that was aimed at dismantling North Korea’s long-standing nuclear weapons programme.

The move comes amid growing uncertainty about the country following reports that the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, has been seriously ill.

In Vienna today, an IAEA spokeswoman, Melissa Fleming, told reporters at the agency’s headquarters: “There are no more seals and surveillance equipment in place at the reprocessing facility.” She added that the North Koreans “also informed IAEA inspectors that they plan to introduce nuclear material to the reprocessing plant in one week’s time”.