North Korea said readying key nuclear reprocessor
Date: 03-Mar-03
Country: USA
Author: Carol Giacomo and Tabassum Zakaria
A steam plant associated with the reprocessing facility, which turns spent plutonium rods into fuel for nuclear weapons, has been fired up and and chemicals have been delivered to the Yongbyon complex that could be used for reprocessing, the officials told Reuters.
"They could start (reprocessing) on fairly short notice but they haven't yet," said one official who, like the others, spoke on condition of anonymity.
Previously, Reuters and other media reported that the North Koreans have been moving fuel rods around their main nuclear complex at Yongbyon, including possibly some of the 8,000 spent fuel rods that experts consider a tripwire in bomb building.
Pyongyang's apparently determined march to revive a fully operational nuclear weapons program is a huge headache for the Bush administration, which is on the verge of a possible war with Iraq and would like to hold off a confrontation with North Korea in the meantime.
Many opposition Democrats and experts believe the administration is foolishly playing down the risk of Pyongyang's activities and unnecessarily provoking the isolated communist regime by refusing to engage in direct talks.
TALK FORMAT
The administration is insisting that any negotiations with Pyongyang be held in a multilateral context, involving China, Japan, South Korea and possibly also Russia.
On Wednesday, U.S. officials confirmed the North had restarted a 5-megawatt reactor which had been mothballed in 1994. It converts unused uranium fuel rods into plutonium for nuclear weapons fuel.
Experts estimate the reactor would take about a year to produce the plutonium needed for one bomb.
But activating the reprocessing plant would be an even greater concern because it would give North Korea the means to more quickly boost its nuclear inventory. The 8,000 spent fuel rods could fuel another five or six weapons - about one bomb a month through the summer.
Some experts say restarting the reprocessor would cross a "redline" that the United States must not tolerate.
"We've seen preparations in terms of moving the (fuel rod) canisters (and) in terms of the steam plant for the reprocessing facility being activated, so the reprocessing facility itself is ready to be turned on," one government source said.
"There also seems to be some effort to make sure they have the necessary chemicals in stock for reprocessing. There have been railroad cars full of chemicals arriving at Yongbyon," he said.
The official added: "I don't think we've seen them begin to reprocess but we've seen several indications they are continuing to lay the groundwork for it."
Another U.S. source described the North Koreans as "moving as fast as they can. I would say no more than a month (before the reprocessor is operational). Anybody who suggests they are holding off is wrong."
Some other officials insisted the intelligence was more ambiguous.
David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security said that since December, Pyongyang has made clear its intentions. "I've seen nothing to make me believe that North Korea is not serious about restarting this nuclear program. They are playing a hand," he said.
The North Korean crisis was sparked last October when the United States said Pyongyang had admitted developing a secret program for highly enriched uranium in violation of a 1994 accord and various international commitments.
Under the 1994 accord, signed with the United States, Pyongyang agreed to freeze its plutonium-based nuclear program in exchange for two light-water nuclear power reactors and major fuel oil deliveries.
But the United States concluded last year that the North several years ago had launched a second nuclear program that used highly enriched uranium as a fuel source.
