North Korea’s reported use of a nuclear complex reactor might be an attempt to make bomb fuels

By HYUNG-JIN KIM
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The U.N. atomic agency and outside experts say North Korea may have started operating a light-water reactor at its main nuclear complex in a possible attempt to establish a new facility to produce bomb fuels. International Atomic Energy Agency Director General says his agency has observed increased levels of activity at and near the light-water reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear complex. If correct, the assessment would show that North Korea was moving to implement leader Kim Jong Un’s vows to build more nuclear weapons in response to what he describes as intensifying U.S.-led military threats. The light-water reactor would be an additional source of plutonium, one of the two key ingredients in manufacturing nuclear weapons.