Energy officials from South Korea, the U.S., Japan and the E.U. will convene in New York on Thursday to decide on the fate of an international project to build light-water nuclear reactors in North Korea.

The executive board of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) is expected to focus discussions on whether to extend for another year the suspension of the light-water reactor plan OR to terminate the project altogether.

A KEDO official said it is unlikely that the board members will reach a final decision on the matter at Thursday's meeting, pointing out that more than a month remains before the one-year suspension of the project is up, and that further consultation is likely.

The official cautiously predicted a breakthrough could emerge in the stalled reactor project after the U.S. presidential race next month.

Washington has said it sees "no future" in the project, as it may end up providing the communist North with nuclear technology and material.

However, Seoul and Tokyo oppose terminating the project, as it could further hinder crippled six-way talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

The 4.6 billion-dollar project was part of a 1994 deal between the North and the U.S. to provide two light-water nuclear reactors to the North in return for Pyongyang's suspension of its nuclear activities.