NK Could Have Ability to Produce One to Three Nuclear Weapons

The Center for Non-proliferation Studies (CNS) at the Monterrey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) forecasted on April 28 that North Korea could produce one to three additional nuclear weapons if the North started plutonium reprocessing of the spent fuel rods at its 5MW nuclear reactor in Yongbyon, Pyongbuk Province that it recently stopped operating.

The report said in its “special report on the suspension of North Korea’s 5MW nuclear operations” that a maximum of 14.5kg of weapon-class plutonium could be extracted, but considering the amount of loss in the process of reprocessing, the real amount of extraction should be closer to eight to 11 kilograms.