By Lee Tae-hoon
Safety concerns are growing over the construction of North Korea’s experimental light-water reactors in Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang, as the isolated communist regime accelerates the risky mission without proper supervision and safety monitoring.
A satellite picture obtained by KBS shows that Pyongyang has made considerable progress in the construction of the Yongbyon nuclear complex over the past few months.
The photo taken on March 24 reveals that a dome structure, which was only one meter tall when spotted last November, is taking shape. The construction of another structure similar in shape and size that was not visible in last year’s surveillance pictures also appeared in the latest photo.
Experts say both of the new buildings will likely become nuclear reactors and will be more than 20 meters in diameter and height once completed.
Many of them remain skeptical as to whether the reclusive regime is capable of building light-water reactors with adequate safety standards, claiming that the North’s nuclear technology remains far below the international level.
Siegfried Hecker, a Stanford University professor who visited the Yongbyon complex last November, is also deeply concerned about the safety of the North’s light-water reactor project.
"North Korea is most likely doing this in isolation. What we've found over many decades is that it is important to do that through cooperation with countries that have nuclear safety expertise," he said in a media interview earlier this year.
"One has to be concerned about accidents after the reactor begins operating. No nuclear explosion can happen from a reactor, but there could (be) radioactive contamination if there is an accident."
Olli Heinonen, former chief inspector for the International Atomic Energy Agency, also warns that the new North Korean nuclear facilities pose a high risk of causing a radiation leak, given that the communist regime has difficulty in securing safety-related technologies.
Observers say an accident at the Yongbyon facility could result in radioactive contamination of the entire Korean Peninsula.
They say the communist regime is accelerating the construction of the Yongbyon complex with the aim of completing at least one 100-megawatt light-water reactor by 2012.
"Everything under construction in Pyongyang has a due date for the final construction of 2012 on the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung," said Jack Pritchard, president of the Korea Economic Institute, who has made more than 10 visits to the North. .
Pyongyang has set 2012 as the target year for the country to become a "great, powerful and prosperous nation."
The North claims the light-water reactor program is intended to resolve its electricity shortage, but many scientists believe that the reactors are being built for manufacturing nuclear bombs using enriched uranium.
Some South Korean officials cast doubts about the Yongbyon facility, saying Pyongyang may be using the new structures simply as leverage to pressure Washington and Seoul to listen to its demands.
"We have to wait and see if North Korea is really building a light-water reactor," a senior government official said.
Another official downplayed the level of progress made in the construction of the North’s nuclear complex and the view that the communist state might be building another reactor.
"It doesn't seem that another light-water reactor is being built," he said, noting that the new circular structure appears to be an auxiliary facility.
The North possesses several nuclear facilities that have the potential to produce nuclear fuel for weapons, including a 5-megawatt electric research reactor and a plutonium reprocessing facility.
Yongbyon is also known as the site of the Radiochemical Laboratory of the Institute of Radiochemistry, the Nuclear Fuel Rod Fabrication Plant, and a storage facility for fuel rods.