Military-ruled Myanmar is seeking to develop a clandestine nuclear program with the intent to produce an atomic bomb, according to an investigation by an exiled anti-government group.

A five-year investigation by the Norwaybased Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) concluded that Myanmar, formerly Burma, was a long way from producing a nuclear weapon but had gone to great lengths to acquire the technology and expertise to do so.

If true, it would mark the first Southeast Asian country with nuclear ambitions and alter the strategic landscape of a fast-growing region whose big countries — from Indonesia to the Philippines and Thailand — are closely allied with Washington.

A report by DVB, made public this week, cited a US nuclear scientist assessing evidence provided by Sai Thein Win, a Burmese defence engineer trained in Russia in missile technology. He said he had defected after working in factories built to develop weapons of mass destruction.

"Burma is trying to build pieces of a nuclear program, specifically a nuclear reactor to make plutonium and a uranium enrichment program," said co-author Robert Kelley, a former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Kelley told Reuters that Myanmar's machin-

ery and equipment appeared to be of a poor quality and that it was along way from developing a ready-to-use atomic weapon. "They have 1,000 things left to do and are doing them one at a time, "he said.

US SENATOR STAYS AWAY

Nevertheless the report prompted a US Senator, Jim Webb, to cancel a trip to Myanmar on Thursday, which he said would be "unwise and inappropriate" in light of the claim.

Accounts of suspected nuclear plans surfaced last year, but Myanmar has never confirmed or denied any nuclear ambitions.

"This new information is the glue that fixes the pieces together," Kelley told Reuters. "Sai provided hundreds of colour photos, dozens of technical drawings and a document which helps us see the program's organizational structure."

Previous claims by defectors suggest Myanmar had enlisted the help of nucleararmed North Korea, with which it reportedly agreed a memorandum of understanding on military cooperation during a visit by a top junta general to Pyongyang last year.

Admiral Robert Willard, head of the US Pacific command, said he was unaware of nuclear cooperation between the two states, but was "certainly concerned about the relationship between North Korea and Burma given our lack of visibility in both regimes.''