N Korea’s new nuclear reactor likely fully operational next summer: Seoul

SEOUL, Dec 29: A new reactor at North Koreas main nuclear facility will likely be fully operational by next summer, Seouls defence minister said, a week after the UN atomic agency called it a "cause for concern".

Shin Won-sik told local media Thursday that the new reactor at North Koreas Yongbyon nuclear complex appears to be in a "trial operation" stage and that it is expected to be fully operational next summer.

The defence ministry confirmed Shins comments Friday.

Yongbyon is home to North Koreas only other nuclear reactor, with a five-megawatt capacity, which has been its sole known source of plutonium -- a primary material for nuclear weapons.

Rafael Grossi, head of the UN atomic agency, said in a statement last week that the new light-water reactor appeared to be operational and capable of producing plutonium.

"This is a cause for concern," he said.

Shin noted that while no country has used light-water reactors to produce weapons-grade plutonium, Pyongyang could potentially use the new reactor to produce tritium for hydrogen bombs or to conduct tests for developing small nuclear reactors used in nuclear-powered submarines.

The defence minister said Seoul has detected signs of cooling water discharged from the new reactor since this summer.
Grossi said last week that the new reactor has "reached criticality", and that it was discharging warm water.

"Reaching criticality means that the nuclear reactor operates under normal condition by realizing sustainable nuclear chain reaction," Lee You-ho, a nuclear engineering professor at Seoul National University, told AFP.

"When a nuclear reactor operates under normal condition, it produces heat which accompanies the discharge of warm water."

Shins comments came the same day that Seouls spy agency issued a statement forecasting that Pyongyang would carry out military and cyber provocations in the coming year, targeting election campaigns in the United States and South Korea.    —AFP