SEOUL: According to a Southern Korean media report on Thursday( Oct. 5 ) citing authorities sources, North Korea has shut down the nuclear reactor at its main nuclear complex in order to extract uranium that could be used for weapons by reprocessing used energy rods.
According to an intelligence analysis by US and North Korean authorities, the 5 watt nuclear reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear complex has been shut down since late September, according to the report.
According to a government source cited by the Donga Ilbo news,” South Korea and the US believe that this may indicate that reprocessing work is being done to get weapons-grade plutonium.”
A stage taken before uranium is extracted is the recycling of spent fuel rods taken out of a nuclear reactor. The North’s primary cause of uranium, which it most likely used to create nuclear weapons, is the Yongbyon nuclear advanced.
A independent source of material that could be used to make nuclear weapons, uranium enrichment infrastructure, are also run by North Korea.
Without elaborating on what study pointed to the examination that the move may be related to a nuclear test, Donga Ilbo stated that” The possibility of North Korea testing nuclear weapons is no ruled out.”