North Korea restarted construction on an experimental atomic reactor at its main nuclear site, dpa quoted a US research website as saying Thursday. Commercial satellite photos taken April 30 showed the Stalinist state had restarted work on a containment building for a light water reactor at the Yongbyon site in the north-east, according to 38 North, which is run by the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University. "Overall, it may take another one to two years before the new facility becomes operational," 38 North said. Work probably resumed in late February or early March after months of inactivity, the website said. North Korea said the reactor is to generate electricity. The international community suspected it might be aimed at producing more fissile materials for the country's atomic weapons programme. North Korea conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. Olli Heinonen, the former deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, recently said the reactor could produce plutonium for Pyongyang's nuclear weapons stockpile. He said North Korea could make 12 kilograms of plutonium per year or slightly more than is needed for one atomic bomb. North Korea's construction of the light water reactor, "which the North Koreans have indicated is the prototype for additional reactors, as well as a uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon is an important indication of the North's intention to move forward with the expansion of its nuclear weapons stockpile in the future," 38 North said. The website said the next significant step at the reactor would be loading heavy components, including the pressure vessel, pressurizer and steam generator. This work could take about six months to one year, 38 North said.
