A United States (US)-based institute said on Wednesday new satellite imagery shows that North Korea has resumed building work on a reactor after months of inactivity.
That indicates the North is pressing on with efforts to expand its nuclear programme, the institute says, despite international criticism. North Korea says the reactor is intended to generate electricity but its active pursuit of nuclear weapons raises doubts over its intentions.
The image from a commercial satellite dated April 30 shows progress in construction of the containment building for the light-water reactor at the North's main nuclear facility at Yongbyon, according to the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
But the institute says the reactor is unlikely to become operational before 2014 or 2015.
Citation: http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Asia/Story/STIStory_799846.html
Though restarting nuclear power plants has been the issue in Japan, N.Korean nuclear weapons are ignored or taken up less frequently than nuclear power plants in Japan. But, N.Korean nuclear reactors have much higher possibility of causing accidents than nuclear power plants in Japan. And, when we consider the distance between Japan and N.Korea, we can't ignore accidents that may happen in N.Korean nuclear reactors.
It is important to minimize risk by accessing how serious an accident will be and how often the accident may happen. But, Japanese media seems to look down on how often the accident may happen.
