North Korea appears to be running its main plutonium-producing nuclear reactor either at low levels or not at all while constructing a new building next to a still-incomplete light water reactor, a U.S. think tank said Wednesday.
Satellite imagery from May 24 showed no signs of steam or hot water discharge from the 5-megawatt reactor at the North's Yongbyon nuclear complex, according to the website 38 North, run by the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Steam or hot water discharges are considered key indicators of reactor operation.
"The 5 MWe Reactor was either operating at low power or not at all," 38 North said in an analysis report. "The reactor seems to have been operating irregularly since fall 2014 although the exact nature of the problems facing Pyongyang remain unclear."
The graphite-moderated reactor has been the source of weapons-grade plutonium for the communist nation. The small reactor is capable of producing spent fuel rods which, if reprocessed, could give the regime enough plutonium to make one bomb a year.
In addition to the 5-megawatt reactor, the North has also been building a larger-scale light water nuclear reactor at Yongbyon that experts say could give Pyongyang enough plutonium to make about five or six weapons a year.
On Wednesday, 38 North also said that the North has begun new construction near the light water reactor.
Satellite imagery "shows Pyongyang is building a structure probably intended to support transformers and power distribution equipment for the production of electricity," the North's stated-purpose of the new reactor, 38 North said.
"Nearby power lines can be extended to the building once it is completed, allowing the North to begin reactor operations when ready. It remains unclear, however, whether any other additional work needs to be completed before the North can start reactor operations," it said.
The North has conducted underground nuclear tests three times, in 2006, 2009 and 2013, and also built a facility to enrich uranium, which gives the communist regime a second way of building nuclear bombs in addition to its plutonium program.
Six-party talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear program have been stalled since the last session in late 2008. North Korea has called for resuming negotiations without preconditions, but the U.S. has demanded Pyongyang first take concrete steps demonstrating its denuclearization commitments. (Yonhap)
