On Friday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a uranium enrichment facility and demanded additional weapons-grade material to increase the arsenal. It was also the first time the country had displayed pictures of the centrifuges that create fuel for its nuclear bombs.
The first images of the centrifuges were released with the state media report on Kim’s visit to the Nuclear Weapons Institute and a production base for weapon-grade nuclear materials. These images offer a unique glimpse inside North Korea’s nuclear program, which is prohibited by numerous UN Security Council resolutions.
Kim was pictured in the pictures moving between extended rows of uranium-enriching metal centrifuges. The location of the institution and the date of the visit were not specified in the report.
Kim asked employees to create more stuff for tactical nuclear weapons, saying the country’s nuclear arsenal is vital for confronting threats from the United States and its allies.
The weapons are needed for “self-defence and the capability for a preemptive attack,” he said.
The report quotes the North Korean leader as saying that “anti-DPRK nuclear threats” from “U.S. imperialists-led vassal forces” have exceeded the red line.
The South’s ministry for unification declared that it will never tolerate Pyongyang’s possession of nuclear weapons and denounced North Korea for revealing its uranium enrichment facilities.
There are reportedly multiple locations in North Korea for uranium enrichment. Experts claim that recent development at the main Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, including its uranium enrichment plant, has been visible on commercial satellite imagery, indicating a potential expansion.
One naturally occurring radioactive element is uranium. Raw uranium is treated in ways that yield a substance with a higher concentration of the isotope uranium-235 in order to produce nuclear fuel.
Rafael Grossi, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, stated on Monday that the U.N. nuclear watchdog had observed activity consistent with the operation of a reactor and the reported centrifuge enrichment facility at Yongbyon.
North Korea has revealed photos of its centrifuge facilities, indicating that it has developed its own centrifuges to enhance separation capabilities. The photos also confirm that the North is using a cascade system where large numbers of centrifuges are interconnected to achieve highly enriched uranium.
This new type of centrifuge shows North Korea is advancing its fuel cycle capabilities and suggests that North Korean tactical nuclear weapons designs may primarily rely on uranium for their cores. The photos could also influence the U.S. election and send a message to the next administration that denuclearization is no longer possible and it should recognize North Korea as a nuclear state. North Korea has previously shown photos of nuclear warheads and conducted six underground nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017.
Estimates of the number of North Korea’s nuclear weapons varies widely, with some estimating it may have produced enough fissile material to build up to 90 nuclear warheads, while others believe it has likely assembled closer to 50.
(Reuters)
