North Korea has resumed construction of a nuclear reactor, according to CNN

North Korea appears to have resumed construction of a long-dormant nuclear reactor, according to satellite images held by the U.S. news agency CNN.

 

If completed, the construction would significantly increase North Korea's ability to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons, according to a source close to US intelligence.

 

The satellite images were taken in April and May by the American company Maxar. They show that North Korea has resumed construction of a second reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear complex, after the plant had been closed for several years. At least that is what experts from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, who analyzed the photos, say.

 

The new reactor would be about ten times larger than the existing one, commissioned in the late 1980s.