Such a quantity would mark a significant increase in the country’s nuclear material reserves.
North Korea has sufficient enriched uranium to make roughly 47 nuclear bombs. REPRESENTATION PIC/AFP
North Korea is believed to have amassed a large stockpile of weapons-grade uranium, with assessments suggesting Pyongyang could possess enough material for dozens of nuclear bombs. South Korea’s Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Thursday said an assessment indicated that North Korea holds 2000kg of highly enriched uranium at a purity of 90 per cent or higher. Such a quantity would mark a significant increase in the country’s nuclear material reserves.
Chung said Pyongyang was operating multiple enrichment plants. “Even at this very hour, North Korea’s uranium centrifuges are operating at four sites,” he said, mentioning only the known site of Yongbyon, which North Korea had decommissioned after talks but reactivated in 2021.
Foreign analysts believe Pyongyang has built additional enrichment facilities as leader Kim Jong Un pushes forward with expanding the nuclear arsenal. South Korea’s defence ministry has long maintained that the North possesses a “significant” amount of highly enriched uranium, which forms the core material for nuclear warheads.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimates that 42 kg of highly enriched uranium is required for one nuclear weapon, so 2000kg would be sufficient for roughly 47 nuclear bombs.
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