World News | UN Atomic Watchdog: N Korea Still Enriching Uranium
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. There are no signs that North Korea has been reprocessing fuel from its main nuclear reactor into plutonium over the past year, but Pyongyang appears to still be enriching uranium, which could potentially be used in a nuclear weapon, the U.N.'s atomic watchdog said Wednesday.
Berlin, Sep 2 (AP) There are no signs that North Korea has been reprocessing fuel from its main nuclear reactor into plutonium over the past year, but Pyongyang appears to still be enriching uranium, which could potentially be used in a nuclear weapon, the U.N.'s atomic watchdog said Wednesday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has not had inspectors in North Korea since they were expelled in 2009, but said in a report dated Sept. 1 that it continues to prepare them to return, should leader Kim Jong Un decide to re-admit them.
Meanwhile, it said it has intensified its open source information collection and expanded its collection and analysis of satellite imagery to monitor the country's nuclear program.
Still, it said, without inspectors to carry out verification, the IAEA's knowledge of North Korea's nuclear program “is limited and, as further nuclear activities take place in the country, this knowledge is declining.” It is known that North Korea has facilities to produce both plutonium and highly enriched uranium, two key ingredients to manufacture bombs, at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex north of the capital, Pyongyang.
Also Read | Alexei Navalny Health Update: Russian Opposition Leader Poisoned Using Novichok Nerve Agent, Claims Germany.
The IAEA said in the report, covering the period since its last assessment in August 2019, that it has not detected any operation of the plant that provides the steam necessary for the reprocessing of spent fuel rods, “therefore it is almost certain that no reprocessing activity took place and that the plutonium produced... during the most recent operational cycle has not been separated.”
At the same time, the agency said that its observations of cooling units at the Yongbyon nuclear fuel rod fabrication plant and vehicular movements there “were consistent with the production of enriched uranium at the reported centrifuge enrichment facility.” North Korea's “nuclear activities remain a cause for serious concern,” the agency said. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)