North Korea reactivates its nuclear reactor for the first time since promising to demolish it during Kim Jong-Un/Trump talks in 2018.

 

North Korea appears to have restarted its Yongbyon nuclear reactor for the first time since December 2018, the UN atomic agency has said in a report.

 

Plutonium, which is used for nuclear weapons, is believed to be produced at the reactor's complex.

 

 

The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was expelled by North Korea in 2009 but still relies on satellite imagery to carry out assessments.

 

The agency said the reactor has been discharging cooling water since July, a big suggestion that it is operational.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yongbyon, a nuclear complex with a 5-megawatt reactor, is at the heart of North Korea's nuclear program and has not been operating since December 2018, months after US President Donald Trump met Kim Jong-un in Singapore.

The IAEA also considered a radiochemical laboratory that reprocesses spent nuclear fuel at the same location.

According to the most recent report, the laboratory had been operational for five months prior to July 2021, implying that it had handled a whole batch of spent fuel.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) described the events at the reactor and laboratory as "extremely disturbing" and a clear breach of UN Security Council resolutions.