N. Korea may have more plutonium than previously assumed
According to US monitor New images of North Korea’s main nuclear facility show that the isolated regime has apparently produced more plutonium for its weapons programme than previously thought.
The Radiochemical Laboratory operated intermittently and there have apparently been at least two unreported reprocessing campaigns to produce an undetermined amount of plutonium that can further increase North Korea’s nuclear weapons stockpile.
Ground of the report
- Increased thermal activity was noted at Yongbyon’s uranium enrichment facility.
- There have apparently been at least two unreported reprocessing campaigns to produce an undetermined amount of plutonium
North Korea, which says it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against the threat of invasion, is subject to multiple sets of UN sanctions over its weapons programmes.
Tests Done by North Korea
- North Korea deactivated the Yongbyon reactor in 2007 under an aid-for-disarmament accord, but began renovating it after Pyongyang’s third nuclear test in 2013.
- North Korea also has conducted five nuclear tests, including three since Kim Jong Un took power after his father died of a heart attack in 2011.
- It carried out its first successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile last week.
- North Korea said its fourth nuclear test in January 2016 was a hydrogen bomb, which would be more powerful than an atomic bomb.
North Korea, which says it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against the threat of invasion, is subject to multiple sets of United Nations sanctions over its weapons programmes.
A spate of missile tests has stoked concern that the communist state is advancing rapidly toward its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the U.S. mainland.
Tritium is a key component used for making sophisticated thermonuclear weapons with far greater yields than those made only of plutonium and uranium.