North Korea constructing new enrichment facility for nuclear bombs, experts say
North Korea is constructing an apparently new enrichment facility at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex, experts analyzing recent commercial satellite imagery have said, as Pyongyang ramps up its ability to build even more nuclear bombs.
The analysis of imagery taken in April of the Yongbyon complex shows a new building that has characteristics eerily similar to those of North Korea's Kangson enrichment facility, researchers Jeffrey Lewis and Sam Lair wrote on the Arms Control Wonk website.
The researchers' analysis, published Tuesday, comes just a day after International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi said in a report to the body's board of governors that the nuclear watchdog 'is monitoring the construction of a new building at Yongbyon which has dimensions and features similar to the Kangson enrichment plant.'
'Although the IAEA did not release images of the facility, Grossi's description matches a construction site we have been monitoring near Yongbyon,' the researchers said. 'The dimensions and features, in our opinion, are enough to justify the IAEA drawing attention to the facility as a possible enrichment plant.'
Using images released by North Korean state media during an apparent visit by leader Kim Jong Un to the Kangson facility in September 2024 and a trip in January to the Yongbyon uranium enrichment site, researchers estimated that the new facility is roughly the same size as the one at Kangson, which has nearly 4,000 centrifuges and could produce at least 73 kilograms of highly enriched uranium per year — or more.
Indeed, Lewis said in a post on social media platform X that, if North Korea crammed more centrifuges into the new facility, it could produce between 85 kg and 98 kg of highly enriched uranium a year.
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a simple gun-type bomb such as the one dropped on Hiroshima would require 50 to 60 kg of highly enriched uranium, while more advanced bombs need substantially less — at around 6 kg to 12 kg. However, it is unclear how many bombs North Korea could make, since much would hinge on the type of arsenal they are developing — something that remains shrouded in mystery.
According to an estimate by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute last year, Pyongyang had built around 50 nuclear warheads and had enough fissile material to build about 40 more.
The North first showed off a uranium enrichment site at Yongbyon to visiting American scholars in 2010, claiming at the time that 2,000 centrifuges were already installed and running there. But analyses of satellite imagery in recent years indicated that Pyongyang is expanding its uranium enrichment plant at the Yongbyon complex.
Last September's visit by Kim, however, further lifted the veil over how much the nuclear program had grown, with state-run media revealing for the first time what was believed to be the weapons-grade uranium-manufacturing site at Kangson. This was followed by the January visit to two nuclear weapons facilities, including what researchers assessed was an already-built uranium site at Yongbyon.
Kim used those visits to tout the need for more weapons-grade material as his country 'indefinitely' develops its 'nuclear shield.'
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