WASHINGTON: Satellite imagery suggests North Korea has restarted a research reactor capable of producing plutonium for weapons at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, a US research institute and a US official said on Wednesday.
US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies said a satellite image from Aug. 31 shows white steam rising from a building near the hall that houses the plutonium production reactor’s steam turbines and electric generators.
“The white coloration and volume are consistent with steam being vented because the electrical generating system is about to come online, indicating that the reactor is in or nearing operation,” said the Washington-based institute.
The reactor can produce 6 kgs (13.2 lbs) of plutonium a year, the report added.
There was no immediate comment on Wednesday from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity said he believed the North Koreans had restarted the reactor, saying that the amount of steam suggested that it was being tested.
The official said he did not think the North may have done so to force major powers to resume nuclear talks with Pyongyang in the hopes of extracting concessions, but rather to demonstrate that it will not abandon its nuclear programs.
“It’s more straightforward than that,” sad the official, saying that North Korea “wants to create a fait accompli and be accepted as a (nuclear) power and nuclear weapons state.” “They’ve no interested in bargaining this away,” he added, saying that the only way to counter the North’s action would be to “raise the cost to them of taking this path, and increasing multilateral pressure, with China an active participant.” (Reuters)
