London: A British daily has reported that North Korea is capable of conducting its third nuclear test after repairing flood-related damage at a nuclear test facility.
The paper based its assessment on an analysis of recent satellite photos of the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility.
The revelation by the Daily Mail follows the secretive state's December 12 rocket launch that proved it has the technology to fire a warhead more than 6,200 miles.
Washington and its allies fear a third atomic test would take North Korea one step closer to perfecting the technology required to make a nuclear warhead small enough to attach to one of its missiles and fire at mainland America.
This satellite image taken on December 2 shows the traffic flow pattern at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility in North Korea. A report on the GeoEye and Digital Globe satellite photos from Dec. 13 and earlier, provided by 38 North, the website for the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, said scientists are ''determined to maintain a state of readiness" at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility after repairing flood damage.
(ANI)
First Published: Sunday, December 30, 2012, 10:17