North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
(DPRK) has been active in developing
nuclear technology since the 1950s.
Although the country currently has no operational power-generating
nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from nu ...
, efforts at developing its
nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
sector continue. Moreover, North Korea has developed
nuclear weapons
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
. It conducted what are widely accepted to have been
nuclear tests
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by ...
in 2006, 2009, 2013, 2016, and 2017.
History
Early developments (1950s–1960s)
Since the 1950s, North Korea has been interested in
nuclear technology and has pursued the use of nuclear technology by transferring knowledge and technology related to nuclear energy from the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. In April 1955, it decided to establish the
Atomic and
Nuclear Physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter.
Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...
Research Institute at the 2nd General Meeting of the North Korean Academy of Sciences and dispatched six scientists from the Soviet Union Academy to the conference held in the Soviet Union in June 1955.
In September 1959, an agreement on the use of nuclear power was signed with the Soviet Union in Moscow, and the dispatch of a scientist from North Korea to the Soviet Union became a systematic step forward.
An IRT-2000 pool-type
research reactor
Research reactors are nuclear fission-based nuclear reactors that serve primarily as a neutron source. They are also called non-power reactors, in contrast to power reactors that are used for electricity production, heat generation, or maritim ...
was supplied by the Soviet Union for the
Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center
The Nyongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center is North Korea's major nuclear facility, operating its first nuclear reactors. It is located in Nyongbyon County in North Pyongan Province, about 100 km north of Pyongyang. The center produ ...
in 1963, and began operation in 1965. After upgrades to the research reactor, the fuels now used are IRT-2M-type assemblies of 36% and 80%
highly enriched uranium
Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (238U ...
.
As the center has not received fresh fuel since Soviet times, this reactor is now only run occasionally to produce
iodine-131
Iodine-131 (131I, I-131) is an important radioisotope of iodine discovered by Glenn Seaborg and John Livingood in 1938 at the University of California, Berkeley. It has a radioactive decay half-life of about eight days. It is associated with nu ...
for
thyroid cancer
Thyroid cancer is cancer that develops from the tissues of the thyroid gland. It is a disease in which cells grow abnormally and have the potential to spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms can include swelling or a lump in the neck. C ...
radiation therapy
Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Radia ...
.
According to a 2022 study of Donghyun Woo, who relied on previously unexamined North Korean publications and Soviet archival materials, North Korea's early nuclear developments were motivated out of a desire to harness nuclear power for economic reasons rather than develop nuclear weapons for security reasons.
Expansion of the program (1970s–1990s)
During the 1970s the North Korean research became more independent. In 1974 North Korea upgraded its Soviet-supplied reactor to 8 MW, and in 1979 it began to build a second, indigenous research reactor in
Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center
The Nyongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center is North Korea's major nuclear facility, operating its first nuclear reactors. It is located in Nyongbyon County in North Pyongan Province, about 100 km north of Pyongyang. The center produ ...
. Parallel to the construction of this reactor an ore processing plant and a fuel rod fabrication plant were built.
During the 1980s, the North Korean government realized that
light-water reactor
The light-water reactor (LWR) is a type of thermal-neutron reactor that uses normal water, as opposed to heavy water, as both its coolant and neutron moderator; furthermore a solid form of fissile elements is used as fuel. Thermal-neutron react ...
s (LWRs) were better suited to producing large amounts of electricity, for which there was a growing requirement.
After the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia continued
site selection
The award-winning ''Site Selection'' magazine, published by Conway Data, Inc., is the official publication of thIndustrial Asset Management Council(IAMC). The magazine delivers expansion planning information to over 44,000 readers including corpora ...
fieldwork for the Sinpo LWR project. However, the North Koreans refused to pay for the work, and the project was effectively discontinued.
Institute of Atomic Energy
The
Institute of Atomic Energy (IAE) in Pyongyang was founded in 1985, initially to house a 20
MeV
In physics, an electronvolt (symbol eV, also written electron-volt and electron volt) is the measure of an amount of kinetic energy gained by a single electron accelerating from rest through an electric potential difference of one volt in vacu ...
cyclotron
A cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator invented by Ernest O. Lawrence in 1929–1930 at the University of California, Berkeley, and patented in 1932. Lawrence, Ernest O. ''Method and apparatus for the acceleration of ions'', filed: Janu ...
and laboratories imported under an
IAEA
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...
technical cooperation program from the Soviet Union. The vast majority of cyclotron usage is to produce
gallium-66 for
liver
The liver is a major Organ (anatomy), organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for ...
and
breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...
treatment. The IAE has grown and now has three purposes: research, applying atomic energy to medicine and industry, and providing experimental facilities for nuclear studies students, particularly from
Kim Il-sung University
Kim Il-sung University, founded on 1 October 1946, is the first university built in North Korea. It is located on a campus in Pyongyang, the nation's capital. Along with the main academic buildings, the campus contains 10 separate offices, 50 l ...
and
Kim Chaek University of Technology
Kim Chaek University of Technology is a university in North Korea, on the banks of the Taedong River in Pyongyang. It is named after General Kim Chaek.
The university's programs in nuclear reactors, nuclear electronics, nuclear fuel and nuclear ...
.
[
]
Denuclearization pledges
In 1994, North Korea signed the U.S.-North Korea Agreed Framework with the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. North Korea thereby agreed to end its graphite-moderated nuclear reactor program, including the construction of a 200 MWe power reactor at Taechon
T'aechŏn County or Thaechŏn County (''in North Korean romanization'') is a ''kun'', or county, in central North P'yŏngan province, North Korea. It borders Taegwan and Tongch'ang to the north, Unsan and Nyŏngbyŏn to the east, Pakch'ŏn ...
, in exchange for the construction of two 1000-MWe light-water reactors at Kumho, to be known as the Sinpo Nuclear Power Plant. Construction of these was started in 2000 by the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization
The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) was an organization founded on March 15, 1995, by the United States, South Korea, and Japan to implement the 1994 U.S.-North Korea Agreed Framework that froze North Korea's indigenou ...
, but was suspended in November 2003. Under the Six-Party Talks
The six-party talks aimed to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns as a result of the North Korean nuclear weapons program.
There was a series of meetings with six participating states in Beijing:
* China
* Japan
* North Korea ...
held on 19 September 2005, North Korea pledged to end all its nuclear programs and return to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation ...
, submitting to international inspections in return for benefits including energy aid and normalization of relations with Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and the United States.
On 25 June 2008, it was announced that North Korea was to end its nuclear program; its nuclear declaration was to be handed over to China in Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
on 26 June 2008. The nuclear devices that North Korea already had, however, were to be handed over at a later date. Earlier, on 23 June, North Korea stated that it had begun to dismantle its nuclear program and declared that it would turn over all of its plans to the international community.
In 2009, Siegfried Hecker
Siegfried S. Hecker (born October 2, 1943) is an American metallurgist and nuclear scientist. He served as Director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1986 to 1997 and is now affiliated with Stanford University, where he is research pro ...
, the co-director of the Stanford University Center for International Security and Cooperation, said that "prior to its April rocket launch, North Korea had discharged approximately 6,100 of the 8,000 fuel rods from its 5-megawatt reactor to the cooling pool, but disablement slowed to a crawl of 15 fuel rods per week, dragging out the projected completion of fuel unloading well into 2011. "
Despite these apparent shutdown efforts, North Korea's nuclear tests in 2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
, 2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
and 2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
have called into question its denuclearization commitment.[ In April 2013, amid rising tensions with the West, North Korea stated that it would restart the mothballed Yongbyon facility and resume production of weapons-grade plutonium.]
On 7 July 2018, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served under President Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2017 to 2018 and as the 70th United State ...
, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono
is a Japanese politician serving as the Minister of Digital Affairs of Japan since August 2022. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he previously served as Minister for Administrative Reform and Regulatory Reform from 2015 to 2016 and fro ...
and South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha
Kang Kyung-wha (; born April 7, 1955) is a South Korean diplomat and politician who served as the first Foreign Minister of South Korea under President Moon Jae-in from 2017 to 2021 as well as the first woman nominated for and appointed to the ...
met in Tokyo where they reaffirmed their unity in urging North Korea to denuclearize as promised. The ministers stressed the need to call on North Korea to take concrete steps toward denuclearization and to keep existing U.N. economic sanctions in place.
Nuclear fusion claims
In May 2010, North Korea's state newspaper, ''Rodong Sinmun
''Rodong Sinmun'' (; ) is a North Korean newspaper that serves as the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. It was first published on November 1, 1945, as ''Chŏngro'' (), serving as a communication channel ...
'', announced in an article that North Korea had successfully carried out a nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles ( neutrons or protons). The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manifest ...
reaction. The aforementioned article, referring to the alleged test as "a great event that demonstrated the rapidly developing cutting-edge science and technology of the DPRK", also made mention of efforts by North Korean scientists to develop "safe and environment-friendly new energy", and made no mention of plans to use fusion technology in its nuclear weapons program.
Indigenous light water reactor development
In 2009 North Korea announced its intention to build an indigenous experimental light water reactor
The light-water reactor (LWR) is a type of thermal-neutron reactor that uses normal water, as opposed to heavy water, as both its coolant and neutron moderator; furthermore a solid form of fissile elements is used as fuel. Thermal-neutron react ...
(LWR) and the uranium enrichment technology to provide its nuclear fuel. In November 2010, a group of non-governmental U.S. experts reported that they had visited North Korea's Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center
The Nyongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center is North Korea's major nuclear facility, operating its first nuclear reactors. It is located in Nyongbyon County in North Pyongan Province, about 100 km north of Pyongyang. The center produ ...
, where they were shown an experimental 25–30 MWe light water reactor
The light-water reactor (LWR) is a type of thermal-neutron reactor that uses normal water, as opposed to heavy water, as both its coolant and neutron moderator; furthermore a solid form of fissile elements is used as fuel. Thermal-neutron react ...
in the early stages of construction, and a 2,000-gas centrifuge
A gas centrifuge is a device that performs isotope separation of gases. A centrifuge relies on the principles of centrifugal force accelerating molecules so that particles of different masses are physically separated in a gradient along the radiu ...
uranium enrichment plant, which was said to be producing low enriched uranium
Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (238 ...
(LEU) fuel for the reactor. Construction of the uranium enrichment plant reportedly began in April 2009, and the initial target date for operational commencement for the reactor was 2012. In November 2011, satellite imagery indicated that the LWR construction was progressing rapidly, with the concrete structures largely completed. The LWR is being built on the site of the demolished cooling tower of the experimental Magnox reactor. Following the building of this experimental LWR, North Korea intends to build larger LWRs for electricity generation. Initial estimates were that the reactor would be put into operation in 2013, but the reactor was not externally complete until 2016. In 2017, several activities were noted involving construction, a dam was built to provide sufficient amount of water for the cooling system, switchyard and connections to transmission line were made along with facilities presumably used for maintenance and repair. In 2018 the preliminary testing of the reactor started and expected activation is for 2018 or 2019. However, according to satellite analysis, this reactor has yet to come online .
Nuclear weapons program
Following the 1958 U.S. deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea, the North Korean government asked both the Soviet Union and China for help in developing nuclear weapons, but was refused by both. However, the Soviet Union agreed to help North Korea develop a peaceful nuclear energy program, including the training of nuclear scientists.
Eventually this technology base developed into a clandestine nuclear weapons program, leading to the 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests. In 2009, it was estimated that North Korea had up to ten functional nuclear warheads. After the death of Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...
in December 2011, the IAEA
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...
announced its readiness to return nuclear inspectors to North Korea, from which they were expelled in 2009, as soon as an agreement could be reached on steps towards denuclearization."IAEA wants to redeploy nuclear inspectors in North Korea: report"
Reuters. 20 December 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2011. Nonetheless, in early 2013, North Korea pledged to conduct more nuclear tests in the near future,[ and its third nuclear test took place in February 2013.][
]
Key nuclear organizations
The North Korean Institute of Physics was founded in 1952. The various departments originally created within the Institute of Physics later served as the basis for several independent research centers, including the Institute of Atomic Physics, the Institute of Semiconductors and the Institute of Mathematics.
A further reorganization of scientific research activities was carried out in the 1970s, during which the majority of North Korea's nuclear research institutes were transferred from Pyongyang
Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...
to the city of Pyonsong, from the capital, and combined into a single scientific center.
See also
* Energy in North Korea
Energy in North Korea describes energy and electricity production, consumption and import in North Korea.
North Korea is a net energy exporter. Primary energy use in North Korea was 224 TWh and 9 TWh per million people in 2009.
* Nuclear proliferation
Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information to nations not recognized as " Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Wea ...
* Nuclear terrorism
Nuclear terrorism refers to any person or persons detonating a nuclear weapon as an act of terrorism (i.e., illegal or immoral use of violence for a political or religious cause). Some definitions of nuclear terrorism include the sabotage of a ...
* Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear ...
* Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation ...
References
External links
38North.org
(38 North is a project of the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
)
{{Asia topic, Nuclear energy in, state=expand
Economy of North Korea
Military of North Korea
Nuclear technology in North Korea
Government of North Korea
Nuclear program of North Korea
Korea-related lists