Pyongyang: North Korea has stockpiled enough uranium for six nuclear bombs, an expert has warned.
According to a South Korean nuclear expert, North Korea has appeared to have started relying on enrichment activities because of its dwindling stock of plutonium after two rounds of nuclear tests.
The expert’s warning has emerged amid growing concerns Pyongyang could be primed for another nuclear test, The Herald Sun reports.
According to the report, in November 2010, North Korea revealed its uranium enrichment plant to US scientist Siegfried Hecker, claiming it was being used for energy development.
The plant was thought to have been operational in 2009, meaning it could have produced enough enriched uranium for up to six bombs.
The South Korean state news agency quoted the expert, as saying that ‘if the North Korean claim is true, it could allow the North to make some 88lbs (40kg) of highly-enriched uranium per year, enough for one or two atomic weapons’.
The expert also said South Korea estimated that Pyongyang had spent at least USD 6.58 billion on its nuclear weapon program.
ANI
First Published: Thursday, May 03, 2012, 14:39