High activity spotted at North Korea nuclear complex after Kim's bomb-fuel order, says report
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspecting a nuclear weaponisation project at an unknown location in North Korea.
PHOTO: AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS
WASHINGTON – Satellite images show a high level of activity at North Korea’s main nuclear site, a United States think-tank reported on Saturday after the North Korean leader ordered an increase in production of bomb fuel
The Washington-based 38 North monitoring project said the activity it had spotted, based on images from March 3 and 17, could indicate that an Experimental Light Water Reactor (ELWR) at the Yongbyon site was nearing completion and transition to operational status.
The report said the images showed that a 5MW reactor at Yongbyon continued to operate and that construction had started on a support building around the ELWR.
Further, water discharges had been detected from that reactor’s cooling system.
New construction had also started around Yongbyon’s uranium enrichment plant, likely to expand its capabilities.
“These developments seem to reflect Kim Jong Un’s recent directive to increase the country’s fissile material production to expand its nuclear weapons arsenal,” the report added, referring to the North Korean leader.
Last Tuesday, North Korea unveiled new, smaller nuclear warheads
North Korean state media said Mr Kim had ordered the production of weapons-grade materials in a “far-sighted way” to boost the country’s nuclear arsenal “exponentially”.
It is unclear whether North Korea has fully developed miniaturised nuclear warheads needed to fit on smaller weapons it has displayed, and analysts say perfecting such warheads would most likely be a key goal if the country resumes nuclear testing for the first time since 2017.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Nuclear Weapons Institute in Pyongyang, North Korea.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
South Korea and the US have warned since early 2022 that North Korea may resume nuclear testing at any time.
In a report in 2022, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated that North Korea had assembled up to 20 nuclear warheads, and probably possessed sufficient fissile material for approximately 45 to 55 nuclear devices. REUTERS
