Satellite Reveals N. Korea Nuke Building

Satellite photos reveal construction at North Korea’s main atomic complex, suggesting the country is fulfilling its plans to build a light-water nuclear reactor, the AP reports. The images, from a private Washington institute, show at least two cranes and an under-construction rectangular structure, and come amid reports that work is in progress. Such reactors are, in theory, for civilian energy—but having one gives Pyongyang a reason to enrich uranium.

The DC institute estimated North Korea was working on a 25- to 30-megawatt nuclear reactor. South Korea says the construction hasn’t been confirmed, but would violate UN resolutions. North Korea has been pushing to restart the nuclear disarmament talks that it abandoned last year, but Seoul and the US have said Pyongyang must prove it’s serious about the talks before they can resume.
(More North Korea stories.)