Washington, September 05: American experts have cast doubts over North Korean claims that the country is rebuilding a nuclear reactor to recover plutonium from fuel rods.
The Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) said a black and white satellite image of the Yongbyon nuclear facility showed key parts of the reactor still in disrepair, AFP reported.
“Based on an analysis of imagery, there do not appear to be any reconstruction efforts at the reactor site,” the ISIS said.
The official Korean Central News Agency quoted Pyongyang’s permanent representative to the UN as saying that North Korea has entered the final phase of uranium enrichment, which is one more step towards making nuclear weapons.
The representative said the North was prepared for both dialog and sanctions.
The image, dated August 10, shows a complex of buildings, including what ISIS said was the site of a destroyed cooling tower, with no signs of reconstruction.
North Korea quit the six-party — North Korea, the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia — nuclear disarmament talks in April and conducted its second nuclear test a month later.
The UN passed tougher sanctions against North Korea after the country conducted the nuclear test and test-launched a number of short-range and long-range missiles.
—–Agencies