ID :
60497
Thu, 05/14/2009 - 11:06
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/60497
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea may double plutonium stock in half decade: U.S. scholar
(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; REPHRASES para 4; ADDS background on N. Korean
plutonium stock in para 3, last visit to N. Korea by scholar in last para; ADDS
predicted amount of plutonium by 2013 in para 10; TRIMS)
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, May 13 (Yonhap) -- North Korea may double its stockpile of plutonium for
nuclear weapons by 2013, producing enough for one bomb each year with its
existing fuel, a U.S. expert said Wednesday.
Siegfried Hecker, a Stanford University professor who has visited North Korea
multiple times, also said Pyongyang may have started work on its 14,000 unused
fuel rods as early as this month.
Fuel rods are reprocessed to produce the plutonium needed to build nuclear bombs
after undergoing irradiation in a reactor. North Korea reported last year it has
30 kilograms of plutonium in storage.
In retaliation for the U.N. condemnation of its April 5 rocket launch, the North
said last month that it was quitting the disarmament-for-aid talks and had begun
reprocessing 8,000 spent fuel rods.
"These 8,000 spent fuel rods could contain as much as 12 kilograms of plutonium,"
Hecker said in an article posted on the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Six kilograms of plutonium is needed to build a bomb, but Hecker said North Korea
could realistically produce about 8 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium in less
than six months.
"The best North Korea could do is to separate approximately 8 kilograms of
bomb-grade plutonium by October 2009," he said, adding Pyongyang has an
additional 2,000 fuel rods ready to be loaded into a reactor and 12,000 that can
be prepared for use in six months.
North Korea could "produce at most 6 kilograms of plutonium per year for the next
two to four years with its existing stocks of fresh fuel," he said, adding
related activities "could have started as early as this month."
"This fuel would have to be reprocessed to be turned into bomb fuel," he said.
"These rods appeared to be in good shape when I saw them in storage at the fuel
fabrication facility in 2008."
The combined amount of plutonium North Korea secures by the end of 2013 will rise
to over 60 kilograms, according to Hecker's prediction.
Hecker has visited the Yongbyon reactor north of Pyongyang three times. The
reactor was disabled under a six-nation agreement, but the North is believed to
have begun restoring its operation after expelling outside monitors.
North Korea conducted its first atomic test in 2006. It has recently threatened
to conduct additional nuclear and missile tests, accusing the U.S. of harboring
hostilities against it.
Hecker said Pyongyang may be compelled to perform additional atomic tests to
enhance its nuclear arsenal and combine it with long-range ballistic missiles.
"To make better bombs, particularly miniaturize them and have confidence to mount
them on missiles, North Korea would have to conduct one or more nuclear tests,"
he said.
Hecker last visited Pyongyang in February this year.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
plutonium stock in para 3, last visit to N. Korea by scholar in last para; ADDS
predicted amount of plutonium by 2013 in para 10; TRIMS)
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, May 13 (Yonhap) -- North Korea may double its stockpile of plutonium for
nuclear weapons by 2013, producing enough for one bomb each year with its
existing fuel, a U.S. expert said Wednesday.
Siegfried Hecker, a Stanford University professor who has visited North Korea
multiple times, also said Pyongyang may have started work on its 14,000 unused
fuel rods as early as this month.
Fuel rods are reprocessed to produce the plutonium needed to build nuclear bombs
after undergoing irradiation in a reactor. North Korea reported last year it has
30 kilograms of plutonium in storage.
In retaliation for the U.N. condemnation of its April 5 rocket launch, the North
said last month that it was quitting the disarmament-for-aid talks and had begun
reprocessing 8,000 spent fuel rods.
"These 8,000 spent fuel rods could contain as much as 12 kilograms of plutonium,"
Hecker said in an article posted on the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Six kilograms of plutonium is needed to build a bomb, but Hecker said North Korea
could realistically produce about 8 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium in less
than six months.
"The best North Korea could do is to separate approximately 8 kilograms of
bomb-grade plutonium by October 2009," he said, adding Pyongyang has an
additional 2,000 fuel rods ready to be loaded into a reactor and 12,000 that can
be prepared for use in six months.
North Korea could "produce at most 6 kilograms of plutonium per year for the next
two to four years with its existing stocks of fresh fuel," he said, adding
related activities "could have started as early as this month."
"This fuel would have to be reprocessed to be turned into bomb fuel," he said.
"These rods appeared to be in good shape when I saw them in storage at the fuel
fabrication facility in 2008."
The combined amount of plutonium North Korea secures by the end of 2013 will rise
to over 60 kilograms, according to Hecker's prediction.
Hecker has visited the Yongbyon reactor north of Pyongyang three times. The
reactor was disabled under a six-nation agreement, but the North is believed to
have begun restoring its operation after expelling outside monitors.
North Korea conducted its first atomic test in 2006. It has recently threatened
to conduct additional nuclear and missile tests, accusing the U.S. of harboring
hostilities against it.
Hecker said Pyongyang may be compelled to perform additional atomic tests to
enhance its nuclear arsenal and combine it with long-range ballistic missiles.
"To make better bombs, particularly miniaturize them and have confidence to mount
them on missiles, North Korea would have to conduct one or more nuclear tests,"
he said.
Hecker last visited Pyongyang in February this year.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
