Yongbyon Fuel Fabrication Plant
During the 08 January 2004 visit of the American delegation, the North Koreans stated that they had one more load of fuel for the reactor fabricated at that time. The fuel fabrication facility was said to be partially operational and partially under maintenance. They said they were in no hurry to fabricate more fuel since the two bigger reactors under construction were not close to operation. The US delegation did not visit the fuel fabrication facility. The fuel fabrication complex was previously reported to have been making fuel elements containing about 100 tonnes per year of uranium. The complex was believed to have produced enough fuel for the initial loading of the core for the 50 MWe reactor under construction, but the nominal capacity was assessed as being appreciably larger. [Hecker testimony]
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Reactivated 5MW Nuclear Reactor at Yongbyon as of 05 March 2003 |
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Fuel Fabrication Facility |
Digitalglobe imagery of the Fuel Fabrication Facility as of March 2, 2002. |
