Myanmar Abandons Nuclear Program: Defense Minister
By PALASH R. GHOSH
June 4, 2012 9:20 AM EDT

Myanmar has formally abandoned its pursuit of nuclear power and has also scaled back its military and political ties with North Korea, the country’s defense minister said over the weekend.

"We have already said very clearly [our nuclear program] was not for defense, it was not for weapons, it was just research in the past," Lieutenant General Hla Min said at the International Institute for Strategic Studies Regional Security Dialogue, an annual security forum, in Singapore.

Hla Min also indicated that his country’s nuclear program had not progressed very far anyway.

"In reality we were just ... doing academic studies. But in this new government, we have already given up all activities on nuclear issues. And we have no further plans to extend on this."

As a result, he asserted, there is no need for the U.N. nuclear watchdog...

Burma 'has given up nuclear power research' - minister
Burma has abandoned research into nuclear power generation, its defence minister says

The new government had "already given up all activities on nuclear issues", Lt Gen Hla Min told the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore.

In 2010, a defecting Burmese soldier and mechanical engineer accused his country of starting work on a nuclear-weapons programme.

But Hla Min insisted that the country had never pursued nuclear weapons.

Delegates said his remarks - spoken through a translator - were remarkably frank and an illustration of the reforms sweeping Burma, reported Reuters news agency...