Steam has been seen rising from North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear facility, suggesting that the reactor has been restarted, a US institute report said on Thursday.
The color and volume of the steam indicated that the reactor was in or nearing operation, the institute said. Pyongyang vowed to restart facilities at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex in April, amid high regional tensions.
The reactor can produce plutonium, which North Korea could use to make nuclear weapons. Analysts believe North Korea already possesses between four and 10 nuclear weapons, based on plutonium produced at the Yongbyon reactor prior to mid-2007.
The US-Korea Institute at JohnsHopkinsUniversity. The institute uses satellite imagery to monitor developments in North Korea. The reactor uses steam turbines to generate electricity, and the steam seen in satellite imagery from 31 August indicated that the electrical system was about to come online, the report said.
There remains time to negotiate a shutdown of the reactor” Institution for Science and International Security “The reactor looks like it either is or will within a matter of days be fully operational, and as soon as that happens, it will start producing plutonium,” report author Jeffrey Lewis told media. “They really are putting themselves in a position to increase the amount of material they have for nuclear weapons, which I think gives them a little bit of leverage in negotiations, and adds a sense of urgency on our part,” he added.