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North Korea may test nuclear bomb by December: US analyst
Tokyo, June 29: North Korea has enough plutonium to make six to 10 nuclear weapons and could test such a weapon by the end of the year, a former US negotiator with the Stalinist state said in an interview published today.
Tokyo, June 29: North Korea has enough plutonium to
make six to 10 nuclear weapons and could test such a weapon by
the end of the year, a former US negotiator with the Stalinist
state said in an interview published today.
"To the best of my knowledge, based on very well-informed Washington sources, North Korea's nuclear program is moving ahead very quickly", Kenneth Quinones was quoted as saying by the Daily Yomiuri.
"Basically, this means North Korea's reprocessing (of plutonium from spent nuclear fuel) is almost finished, or has finished. This means North Korea now has enough plutonium to make six to 10 nuclear weapons", he said. "If North Korea wants to use their nuclear weapon as negotiating leverage, they must test it", said Quinones, who is now the Korean affairs director at the Washington-based private think-tank, International Center. "The more I talked to my friends, the more I realised that it is possible for North Korea to have a nuclear weapon by December. It is possible they'll have a test by December. There is nothing to stop North Korea from doing this".
He said it took about six months to reprocess plutonium from spent nuclear fuel and then about six months to make a nuclear bomb, according to the daily.
As a US state department official, Quinones was involved in US talks with North Korea that led to a 1994 agreement that froze its nuclear program in exchange for light-water reactors for power generation and heavy fuel aid.
Pyongyang has however declared the agreement void amid a dispute with Washington about its nuclear ambitions.
Bureau Report
"To the best of my knowledge, based on very well-informed Washington sources, North Korea's nuclear program is moving ahead very quickly", Kenneth Quinones was quoted as saying by the Daily Yomiuri.
"Basically, this means North Korea's reprocessing (of plutonium from spent nuclear fuel) is almost finished, or has finished. This means North Korea now has enough plutonium to make six to 10 nuclear weapons", he said. "If North Korea wants to use their nuclear weapon as negotiating leverage, they must test it", said Quinones, who is now the Korean affairs director at the Washington-based private think-tank, International Center. "The more I talked to my friends, the more I realised that it is possible for North Korea to have a nuclear weapon by December. It is possible they'll have a test by December. There is nothing to stop North Korea from doing this".
He said it took about six months to reprocess plutonium from spent nuclear fuel and then about six months to make a nuclear bomb, according to the daily.
As a US state department official, Quinones was involved in US talks with North Korea that led to a 1994 agreement that froze its nuclear program in exchange for light-water reactors for power generation and heavy fuel aid.
Pyongyang has however declared the agreement void amid a dispute with Washington about its nuclear ambitions.
Bureau Report