Signs point to North Korea restarting plutonium reactor
Recent satellite images suggest Pyongyang is carrying out nuclear tests, atomic agency says
Activities observed at North Korea’s Yongbyon site indicate testing ahead of a possible restart to a reactor that could provide it with weapons-grade plutonium, the UN atomic agency said yesterday.
“Activities have been observed at the site that are consistent with an effort to restart the … reactor,” International Atomic Energy Agency head Yukiya Amano told a closed-door regular meeting of the agency’s board of governors.
He told the board that the IAEA “continues to monitor developments at the Yongbyon site, mainly through satellite imagery”.
At a later news conference, Amano said the reactor activities included the release of steam from two vents and the apparent discharge of cooling water.
“As we do not have inspectors on the ground we cannot draw a conclusion,” Amano said.
North Korea kicked out IAEA inspectors in 2009.
Since 2006, it has carried out three nuclear tests – the last, and most powerful, in February this year.