North Korea 'expanding uranium capacity,' says expert

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http://www.dw.com/en/north-korea-expanding-uranium-capacity-says-expert/a-18646889

Recent satellite images reveal that North Korea is boosting its uranium extraction capacity, a US report says. But what will Pyongyang do with this uranium? DW spoke to the report's author, Jeffrey Lewis.

North Korea 'expanding uranium capacity,' says expert
13.08.2015

"Recent commercial satellite imagery shows that, over the past year, Pyongyang has begun to refurbish a major mill located near Pyongsan - a county in the southern part of the country - that turns uranium ore into yellowcake. The renovation suggests that North Korea is preparing to expand the production of uranium from a nearby mine," said Jeffrey Lewis in an analysis posted on August 12 on 38 North, the website of the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

The arms control expert at the Monterey Institute of International Studies added that this suggests that the North Korean regime - which has staged three successful nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013 - "intends to mine and mill a significant amount of uranium that could serve as fuel for expanding its nuclear weapons stockpile."

The analysis comes days after experts at IHS Jane's said satellite images suggested Pyongyang was operating a second hall of uranium enrichment centrifuges at its Yongbyon nuclear complex.

And in April, Joel Wit, the founder of 38 North, told DW that the East Asian country was on the verge of rapidly increasing its nuclear weapons stockpile to 20, 50 or 100 bombs within five years, from an estimated 10-16 weapons at that time, adding to regional concerns.