North Korea is expanding a plant used to enrich uranium for nuclear bombs, two reports based on satellite imagery show, in another sign that Kim Jong Un is removing self-imposed constraints on his atomic weapons program put in place during talks with the U.S.
The enrichment plant at the Yongbyon nuclear complex has been expanded and units that control its internal temperature have been removed in recent weeks, according to reports posted Thursday on the Arms Control Wonk and 38 North websites. Still, analysts differed on what the cooling units’ removal indicated about production at the facility, which is being watched for clues whether Kim has shifted away from negotiating and toward arms buildup.
The renovations indicate that North Korea plans to increase production by as much as 25%, Jeffrey Lewis wrote on his Arms Control Wonk website. "An overhaul of the cooling system would be consistent with an increase in the floorspace and number of centrifuges, which would require additional cooling,” said Lewis, director of the East Asia nonproliferation program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.