Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong Il visits a scientific youth project inside the country. The DPRK is on high alert in response to threats from the United States.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
North Korea has shown a US nuclear scientist a new large-scale facility, which it says is engaged in uranium enrichment.
The North has admitted successfully enriching uranium, but this is the first time that the existence of an enrichment facility has been confirmed.
Former Los Alamos National Laboratory director Siegfried Hecker said on a website that he was taken to the plant during his visit to Nyongbyon on November 12.
He was told that the plant had just been built, and says he saw more than 1,000 centrifuges and a modern control room.
The North told him that the facility was built using domestic resources and technology, and 2,000 centrifuges are being operated.
Hecker says he was unable to confirm if the centrifuges were actually running.
Highly enriched uranium extracted by centrifuges can be used as raw material for nuclear weapons, but the North told Hecker that the facility is producing low-enriched uranium to be used for generating power with a light water reactor.
Hecker said the facility can be converted to produce highly enriched uranium. He expressed concern that the North may develop nuclear weapons from enriched uranium as well as plutonium.
The North announced last September that it had successfully enriched uranium, but this is the first time that the existence of an enrichment facility has been confirmed.
2010/11/21 22:55(JST)
(JST: UTC+9hrs.)
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