North Korea restarts an aging plutonium reactor to boost its stockpile of nuclear weapons, after U.S. experts spotted steam rising from the Yongbyon facility.The reactor, which was completed in 1986, is outdated and North Korea could suffer a major disaster if it is restarted, a Russian diplomatic source told the Interfax news agency.
The warning came after researchers at the U.S.-Korea Institute said Wednesday that satellite images taken on August 31 showed plumes of white steam rising from a building next to the reactor.
"Our main concern is linked to a very likely man-made disaster as a consequence. The reactor is in a nightmarish state, it is a design dating back to the 1950s," the Russian source said.
"For the Korean peninsula this could entail terrible consequences, if not a man-made catastrophe."
The U.S. envoy on North Korea meanwhile said the reported restart of the reactor would be "a misstep on the part of North Korea".
"If it turns out that these reports are true that North Korea has restarted the five-megawatt plutonium reactor, this would be a very serious matter," Glyn Davies told news hounds after meeting Japanese Foreign Ministry officials in Tokyo.
The Russian diplomat speaking to Interfax said he did not know for sure whether North Korea had relaunched the facility mothballed in 2007.
"It is obvious that some works are being conducted, and for a long time at that. According to some signs, steps were indeed being taken to relaunch it," the diplomat said.