By Kim Young-jin
Concern is growing over North Korea’s construction of a new nuclear reactor after satellite imagery revealed rapid progress on the project that Pyongyang claims will soon be operational.
But an official here said the work underway to build the experimental light water reactor at the North’s main Yongbyon nuclear complex didn’t necessarily mean that Pyongyang had the capability to run it.
Recent commercial satellite photography analyzed by the North Korea-focused website 38 North shows significant progress on the site including the near-completion of a building to house the reactor as well as a system to cool the reactor and other support systems.
The images come amid heightened concern over the North’s uranium-enrichment program (UEP) that it disclosed along with the beginnings of the light water reactor in November last year. Analysts say the UEP provides the North a second route to producing atomic weapons.
The rapid progression has raised eyebrows in Washington.
"Well, certainly we have concerns," Mark Toner, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said. "Any construction of a light water reactor would violate existing U.N. Security Council resolutions."
Toner called on the North to respect deals made under the six-party denuclearization framework under which Pyongyang is supposed to abandon its program in exchange for incentives.
Light water reactors are generally used for civilian purposes. But analysts warn that completion of the project could allow Pyongyang to claim it is operating the UEP to fuel the reactor while secretly producing uranium for nuclear weapons.
Observers said the speed with which the North was working on the project showed its determination to push forward with its nuclear program despite international efforts to get the isolated state to ditch it in exchange for massive aid.
Last week, Pyongyang’s state-run media said “the day is near at hand” when the country will start operating a light-water reactor based on indigenous technology.
But one Seoul official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Pyongyang had not proven it was capable of operating any light water reactor despite the progress.
“Constructing the structure of the light water reactor and (the North’s) capability to make a nuclear reactor are two different matters,” the official said. “While the outside construction has been progressing, the question remains as to whether they have ability to make a nuclear reactor or not.”
Pyongyang has sought light water reactors since the mid 1980s. Under a 1994 deal with the United States, it was to have received two reactors in exchange for dismantling its plutonium-based program. But the deal fell through amid suspicions over the UEP.
The reactor under construction would be significantly smaller _ with an output of 25 to 30 megawatts _ than those planned under the deal with Washington. Analysts said given the complexity of the project, it would still take 2 to 3 years for the North to be able to run it.
The UEP has emerged as a key issue in discussions to resume the long-stalled six-party framework. Seoul and Washington want the North to halt the program and allow international inspectors to verify the move before resumptions of talks. Pyongyang insists they restart without preconditions.
The Stalinist state is believed to have stockpiled enough plutonium from a gas graphite reactor at Yongbyon to build several atomic bombs. That reactor was shut down in 2007 under a six-party agreement.
Analysts remain skeptical over whether the North would ever give up its nuclear program even if negotiations resume, saying it would be difficult for the regime to relinquish the program that has become its greatest bargaining chip and claim to deterrence.