South Korea said on Friday it expects North Korea’s experimental light water reactor (ELWR) to be operational by the summer and is unlikely to be used to produce plutonium for atomic bombs.
South Korea’s Defense Minister Shin Won-sik’s remarks came after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned last week of signs of activity at a reactor at the Yongbyon Nuclear Research Center, about 100 kilometers north of Pyongyang.
Shin said at a news conference that the South Korean military detected water leaking from the reactor cooling system back in August and that, given the operational preparation time for this type of nuclear unit, it is likely that this will take some time. a total of 11 months to enter full operation.