KBS WORLD Radio
Related News
Chronology of Events
NK Nuclear Facilities
Missile Capabilities
Long-Range
Rocket Launch
Untitled Document
   
38 North: More Evidence of Possible Reprocessing at Yongbyon
2016-04-16 Updated.
 
Recent satellite imagery shows strong indications that North Korea has already begun or is preparing to start reprocessing spent nuclear fuel.
 
The North Korea monitoring website 38 North on Friday issued an exclusive report with analysis by defense expert Joseph Bermudez.
 
In the article titled, "More Evidence of Possible Reprocessing Campaign at Yongbyon," 38 North said that imagery taken on April 11 shows a loaded railroad flatcar at the Radiochemical Laboratory reprocessing plant.
 
It said a loaded flatcar at that location is a key signature observed only on a few rare occasions in the early 2000s when Pyongyang reprocessed nuclear fuel to extract plutonium.
 
The website also said a new dirt access road the North built some 180 meters east of the Laboratory also relates to this speculation.
 
The U.S. Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) also said in a report Friday that based on satellite imagery on April 4 the thermal plant at the complex is a source of industrial steam for reprocessing activities, not a source of heat for the buildings.
 
The organization claimed that the operation of the coal plant suggests that plutonium separation is now inevitable but the timeframe cannot be predicted.





 
 
List