North Korea on Friday blew up the cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, according to South Korea's MBC TV. The TV station, which sent personnel to the event, gave no immediate details and no footage was aired. The event was originally scheduled to be broadcast live by international media but TV stations reported technical problems at the scene. The North scheduled the event to symbolise its commitment to nuclear disarmament, one day after it handed over details of its atomic programmes as part of a six-nation pact. The complex, 96 kilometres (60 miles) north of Pyongyang, is at the heart of US-led diplomatic efforts to shut down the nuclear programme in exchange for energy aid and major diplomatic and security benefits. Yongbyon produced the plutonium for an atomic weapons programme which culminated in a nuclear test in October 2006. South Korea's foreign ministry could not immediately confirm the MBC report.