Troubling activity.
Via Daily Caller:
Thermal images of North Korea’s nuclear research center indicates increased production of nuclear material for Kim Jong-un’s nuclear weapons stockpile, a U.S.-based think tank reports.
Scans of the Radiochemical Laboratory at the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center reveal marked increases in thermal activity, hinting at plutonium production, 38 North, a Washington-based North Korea monitoring project, reported. Researchers also detected increased thermal activity, possibly the result of centrifuge operations, at another facility dedicated to uranium enrichment.
North Korea ramped up uranium enrichment in September, leading experts to conclude that the North could produce six nuclear bombs per year, and the International Atomic Energy Association reported in March that North Korea has more than doubled the size of its uranium enrichment facility in recent years, pushing nuclear material production into a “new phase.”
Observers also noticed possible activity at the Experimental Light Water Reactor, which could be “cause for concern.”
If the rogue state is processing plutonium and uranium, it is very likely the North Korean regime intends to expand its nuclear arsenal, a deeply concerning discovery given North Korea’s recent test of an intercontinental ballistic missile that some experts assess could strike the U.S., specifically Alaska, parts of the Pacific Northwest, and possibly even the West Coast.