Suspected plutonium reactor restart raises fears
New commercial satellite imagery indicates that North Korea has resumed operation of a reactor at its main nuclear site used to produce plutonium for its nuclear weapons programme, a United States think tank says.
Washington’s 38 North North Korea monitoring project said its analysis showed signs that North Korea was preparing to restart the reactor at Yongbyon, having unloaded spent fuel rods for reprocessing to produce additional plutonium for its nuclear weapons stockpile.
‘‘Imagery from January 22 shows a water plume (most probably warm) originating from the cooling water outlet of the reactor, an indication that the reactor is very likely operating,’’ it said in a report.
The group said it was impossible to estimate what power level the reactor was running at, ‘‘although it may be considerable’’.
A 38 North Korea report last week said operations at the reactor had been suspended since late 2015.
North Korea has maintained its nuclear and missile programmes in violation of repeated rounds of international sanctions.
News of the apparent reactor restart comes at a time of rising concern about North Korea’s weapons programmes, which could present the new administration of US President Donald Trump with its first major crisis.
A report by leading US-based nuclear expert Siegfried Hecker published by 38 North last September estimated North Korea had stockpiles of 32 to 54 kilograms of plutonium, enough for six to eight bombs, and had the capacity to produce 6kg, or approximately one bomb’s worth, per year.
North Korea also produces highly enriched uranium for atomic bombs and would have sufficient fissile material for approximately 20 bombs by the end of last year, and the capacity to produce seven more a year, that report said.
In a New Year speech, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country was close to test launching an intercontinental ballistic missile. State media have said a launch could come at any time.
Trump’s defence secretary plans to visit Japan and South Korea next week, and North Korea is expected to top his agenda.
North Korea has threatened retaliation over what it calls ‘‘madcap midwinter’’ drills, as South Korean and US Marines conduct military exercises on ski slopes in sub-freezing temperatures this week, including shirtless hand-tohand combat in the snow.
More than 300 Marines are simulating combat on the ski slopes of Pyeongchang, host of the 2018 Winter Olympics.
"The colonial puppet forces, no more than a rabble, are keen on escalating the tension and the moves to ignite a war at a time when even their American master is at a loss how to cope with the DPRK’s powerful nuclear deterrent,’’ North Korea’s Minju Joson newspaper, quoted by the KCNA news agency, said.