North Korea trying to hide expansion of uranium plant, group says

Name: North and South Korea restore communication and military hotline after 2 months of silence
Uploaded: 2021-10-07T04:17:26.000Z
Duration: 1 min 38 s
Description: North and South Korea restore communication and military hotline after 2 months of silence

Satellite imagery shows that previously reported construction at the Yongbyon plant has been covered to hide details of the building’s layout, 38 North says

While they could be several reasons for the expansion, the group says one option could be to increase production of fissile material

Reading Time:2 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Satellite photo from Planet Labs Inc shows a uranium enrichment plant at North Korea’s main Yongbyon nuclear complex. Photo: Planet Labs Inc via AP

Bloomberg

Published: 12:17pm, 7 Oct 2021Updated: 9:52pm, 7 Oct 2021

North Korea appears to have taken steps to conceal upgrades to an uranium-enrichment plant from spy satellites, as it reopens communications with South Korea’s pro-engagement president, Moon Jae-in.

Satellite imagery shows that previously reported construction in an area at the Yongbyon uranium enrichment plant has been covered to hide details of the building’s layout, the US-based 38 North website said in a post on its website.

It added that although there may be several reasons for the expansion, one option could be to increase production of fissile material.

“One option, assuming that North Korea is producing low-enriched uranium at two enrichment halls, is that the extension could also be used to enrich low-enriched uranium to weapons grade (high-enriched uranium) as it becomes available from those two cascade halls,” it said.

The renovations could indicate North Korea plans to increase production by as much as 25 per cent, weapons expert Jeffrey Lewis wrote on his Arms Control Wonk website in mid-September.

38 North had said earlier that the satellite imagery indicated cooling units were removed at the facility between August 25 and September 1, and the reason for the move was “unclear”.

01:38

North and South Korea restore communication and military hotline after 2 months of silence

The upgrade at the uranium-enrichment facility at Yongbyon comes after the International Atomic Energy Agency said North Korea had also resumed plutonium-production operations at its main nuclear complex for the first time in about three years.