Pyongyang’s nuclear reactor “appears to be operational”

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday that North Korea’s new nuclear reactor “appears to be operational,” while Pyongyang reiterates threats to use nuclear weapons against the United States and its allies.

The country’s first nuclear reactor has already been installed at the Yongbyon complex, located about 100 kilometers north of Pyongyang.

Since mid-October, there has been a “strong flow of water” coming from the reactor cooling system (LWR), IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement.

“The latest observations show that the discharged water is hot, which corresponds to the commissioning” of the reactor, he emphasized.

However, the verification process takes time, and without access to the facility, the IAEA cannot accurately confirm its functionality.

“Like any other nuclear reactor, an LWR could produce plutonium from spent fuel, which could be released during reprocessing, which is a concern,” Grossi warned.

Since inspectors were expelled from North Korea in 2009, the IAEA has been monitoring nuclear developments in the country using satellite imagery.

North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in 2006.

The sixth and final trial, in 2017, also proved to be the most influential.

At the beginning of the year, the country’s leader Kim Jong Un called for expanding the production of “military nuclear material” to “exponentially” increase the production of atomic weapons.

North Korea will not hesitate to retaliate with nuclear weapons if it is “provoked” by nuclear weapons, Kim Jong Un threatened this week.

On Monday, the regime tested the most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the country’s arsenal: the Hwasong-18, which “appears capable” of reaching the entire United States.