The US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, who Friday succeeded in getting the Security Council to hold a formal briefing on the situation in Myanmar, last month accused Yangon of wanting to develop "nuclear power capabilities."

"Their accusations are wrong," Information Minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsann said at a rare news conference here.

"It has been said that there is a nuclear reactor in our country, but we don't have anything. Everyone knows we don't have a nuclear reactor. We are fighting baseless accusations," the minister added.

In his letter to the UN Security Council president, Bolton pointed to press reports that the regime was "seeking nuclear power capabilities, diverting scarce resources better used to address the needs of the Burmese people".

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