Vienna
A new reactor at North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex appears to be operational for the first time, the U.N. nuclear agency and independent experts said Thursday. It would provide an additional source of plutonium for nuclear weapons.
North Korea has been using fuel from a fivemegawatt nuclear reactor at Yongbyon to produce plutonium for its nuclear arsenal, but a discharge from another, larger reactor suggests that it is also coming online, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said .
Since Pyongyang expelled its inspectors in 2009, the IAEA has no longer had access to North Korea. The authority now monitors the country mainly via satellite images. Without access, the panel cannot confirm the reactor's operational status, but IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said the advancement of Pyongyang's nuclear program was “deeply regrettable.”
Researchers at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California also concluded that the reactor was likely operational, adding that it could be a significant source of nuclear material for the nuclear weapons program, which is banned by the U.N. Security Council.
In an April report, the Washingtonbased Institute for Science and International Security estimated that the reactor “could allow plutonium volumes to increase at an estimated rate of about 20 kilograms of plutonium per year, a rate four to five times higher than that of …”the adjacent small reactor”.
The study concluded that North Korea could have between 31 and 96 nuclear warheads, depending on the type of devices built and the fuel used.
News of the reactor deployment comes as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said an intercontinental ballistic missile test this week showed his country would not hesitate to launch a nuclear attack if provoked by an enemy.
According to the Japanese Coast Guard and the South Korean army, North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Sunday (17). On Monday (18), the country fired another missile that could reach a range of 15,000 kilometers and possibly reach US territory, which provoked condemnation from the US government's National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
According to state news agency KCNA, North Korea made a constitutional change in September that will allow it to step up its policy of developing nuclear forces. At the time, Kim Jongun pledged to speed up the production of nuclear weapons to stop what he called U.S. “provocations.”