IAEA warns of expansion in North Korea’s nuclear weapons capabilities

North Korea is significantly expanding its nuclear weapons production capacity, including the possible development of a new uranium enrichment facility, amid increased activity at key nuclear sites, according to the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi.

He said that uranium enrichment could become an alternative and more efficient way of producing weapons-grade material alongside plutonium reprocessing extracted from spent nuclear fuel, Reuters reports.

Speaking in Seoul, Grossi reported a noticeable increase in activity at the five-megawatt reactor, a reprocessing facility, a light-water reactor, and other installations at the Yongbyon complex.

He noted that North Korea’s nuclear programme is estimated to include several dozen warheads and pointed to signs of expanding infrastructure, including new facilities outside Yongbyon.

“All of them point to ​a very serious increase in the capabilities of the DPRK in the area of nuclear weapons production,” Grossi said, using the country’s official designation.

The IAEA has also detected signs of construction of a new facility resembling uranium enrichment installations. Satellite imagery analysis, according to CSIS, suggests a possible expansion of capacity.

Grossi also noted that the agency has not detected any signs of Russian technology being used in North Korea’s nuclear programme, and that references to cooperation likely relate to civilian projects.

By Vugar Khalilov