All articles tagged with #yongbyon
The IAEA says North Korea has built a second uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon and expanded operations at Kangson, potentially producing about 85 kg of weapons-grade HEU per year—enough for 3–4 additional warheads—marking a continued violation of UN resolutions and prompting renewed warnings from the watchdog.
The IAEA says North Korea has built a new uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon that could host up to 28 gas centrifuge cascades and has begun expanding an annex at Kangson, signaling a multi-site expansion of its nuclear infrastructure. The agency relied on satellite imagery and state-media photos since inspectors have not been allowed in North Korea since 2009, and the developments violate UN Security Council resolutions; Pyongyang has repeatedly rejected the IAEA’s authority.
The IAEA chief warned North Korea has made “very serious” progress in expanding its nuclear arsenal, with intensified work at Yongbyon’s facilities and satellite indications of a new enrichment plant nearing operation, potentially boosting the regime’s stockpile toward around 50 warheads and advancing ICBM capability despite sanctions.
North Korea has reportedly halted the operation of its nuclear reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear complex, likely to extract plutonium for use in weapons. The suspension of the 5 megawatt reactor since late September suggests reprocessing work to obtain weapons-grade plutonium. North Korea's main source of plutonium, the Yongbyon complex, has been used in the past to build nuclear weapons. The country has also operated uranium enrichment facilities. There are concerns that North Korea may conduct another nuclear test, as it has conducted six underground tests and has been developing miniaturized nuclear warheads.