IAEA Says North Korea Restarted Nuclear Reactor Activities From Last July

North Korean flag illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Roman Harak)

JAKARTA - North Korea is suspected of having restarted its nuclear reactor activity, which is widely believed to have produced plutonium for nuclear weapons, the United Nations atomic watchdog said in an annual report.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not had access to North Korea since Pyongyang expelled its inspectors in 2009. The country has since resumed its nuclear weapons program and immediately resumed nuclear tests, with the last test being conducted in 2017.

Citing Reuters Monday, August 30, the IAEA is currently monitoring North Korean activity from afar, mostly through satellite imagery.

"There is no indication of reactor operation from early December 2018 to early July 2021," said the IAEA report on the 5-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon, a nuclear complex at the heart of North Korea's nuclear program.

"However, since early July 2021 there have been indications, including the release of cooling water, in line with the operation of the reactor," the statement continued.

The IAEA issues a report each year before a meeting of its member states, posting it online without announcement. This latest report is dated Friday last week.

In June, the IAEA said in its June report that there were indications of possible reprocessing work to separate plutonium from spent nuclear reactor fuel that could be used in nuclear weapons at Yongbyong.

Friday's report said the apparent duration of the work, five months, from mid-February to early July, suggested that spent fuel was handled in full quantities, as opposed to the shorter time required for waste treatment or maintenance.

"New indications of the operation of the 5MW(e) reactor and the Radiochemical (reprocessing) Laboratory are deeply troubling," the United Nations IAEA said.

There are indications 'for a certain period of time, what is suspected to be the uranium enrichment plant in Yongbyon not operating, the IAEA said, adding there are also indications of mining activity and concentration at the mine and uranium plant in Pyongsan.