North Korea appears to have restarted nuclear reactor, UN atomic watchdog says
- ‘The new indications of the operation of the 5MW (e) reactor … are deeply troubling,’ the International Atomic Energy Agency said
- Since early July 2021, there have been indications, including the discharge of cooling water, consistent with the operation of the reactor, the IAEA said
The International Atomic Energy Agency has had no access to North Korea since Pyongyang expelled its inspectors in 2009. The country then pressed ahead with its nuclear weapons programme and soon resumed nuclear testing. Its last nuclear test was in 2017.
The IAEA now monitors North Korea from afar, largely through satellite imagery.
“There were no indications of reactor operation from early December 2018 to the beginning of July 2021,” the IAEA report said of the 5-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon, a nuclear complex at the heart of North Korea’s nuclear programme.
“However, since early July 2021, there have been indications, including the discharge of cooling water, consistent with the operation of the reactor.”
The IAEA issues the report annually before a meeting of its member states, posting it online with no announcement. The report was dated Friday.
The IAEA said in June there were indications at Yongbyon of possible reprocessing work to separate plutonium from spent reactor fuel that could be used in nuclear weapons.
Friday’s report said the duration of that apparent work – five months, from mid-February to early July – suggested a full batch of spent fuel was handled, in contrast to the shorter time needed for waste treatment or maintenance.
“The new indications of the operation of the 5MW (e) reactor and the Radiochemical (reprocessing) Laboratory are deeply troubling,” it said.
There were indications “for a period of time” that what is suspected to be a uranium enrichment plant at Yongbyon was not in operation, it said. There were also indications of mining and concentration activities at a uranium mine and plant at Pyongsan, it added.
“The continuation of the DPRK’s nuclear programme is a clear violation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions and is deeply regrettable,” the agency said, referring to North Korea by its formal name.
The Yongbyon nuclear complex, which has served as the crown jewel of North Korea’s atomic programme, is an ageing facility about 100km (60 miles) north of Pyongyang that once was the only source of its fissile material. It churned out roughly enough plutonium each year for one atomic bomb.
Since then, North Korea has used uranium enrichment as the main source of fissile material for weapons, with nuclear experts saying the state can produce enough weapons-grade material for at least six nuclear bombs a year.
“The announcement by the IAEA isn’t a surprise – lots of groups have reported on the ongoing activity at Yongbyon – but the official confirmation reminds us that North Korea never stopped making nuclear weapons,” said Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia non-proliferation programme at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.
Intelligence agencies and outside analysts have been watching developments at Yongbyon for years through satellite imagery.
A senior Biden administration official said the White House is aware of the IAEA report on North Korea, adding it underscores the urgent need for dialogue and diplomacy to help achieve the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
Siegfried Hecker, a professor emeritus at Stanford University and one of the few American scientists who has taken part in inspections of North Korea’s main nuclear facilities, including Yongbyon, said late last year the reactor has not operated since late 2018 probably due to technical reasons that could include problems with its cooling system.
He has said sanctions appear to have had little, if any, effect in slowing down North Korea’s drive for fissile materials and nuclear weapon production.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
