North Korea appears to have restarted plutonium plant, IAEA says
Reprocessing of spent fuel at Yongbyon could be in the works, according to UN nuclear watchdog
North Korea appears to have reactivated a plant north of Pyongyang for reprocessing plutonium for use in nuclear weapons, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Monday.
“There are indications the reprocessing plant at Yongbyon has been reactivated. It is possible that it is reprocessing spent fuel,” a spokesman for the UN nuclear watchdog said.
North Korea said in 2013 that it would reopen its nuclear reactor in Yongbyon, the nerve centre of the country’s nuclear programme that was closed in 2007 under an aid-for-disarmament deal with the United States and other members of the six-party talks.
Earlier on Monday, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano expressed serious concern over North Korea continuing with its nuclear programme in defiance of a recent UN Security Council resolution.
“It is deeply regrettable that the DPRK [an acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name] has shown no indication that it is willing to comply with the Security Council resolution adopted in response to its nuclear test earlier this year,” he said in his address to the IAEA’s Board of Governors meeting.
