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1 (October 10, 2006)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthabbmo0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS21391 Updated October 10, 2006 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web North Korea's Nuclear Weapons: Latest Developments Sharon Squassoni Specialist in National Defense Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Summary On October 9, 2006, North Korea announced it conducted a nuclear test. It is not yet clear whether North Korea achieved a nuclear yield and if so, how big. North Korea ended an eight-year freeze on its plutonium production program in 2002, expelling international inspectors and restarting facilities. Whereas many believed North Korea might have had enough plutonium (Pu) for one or two weapons in then, North Korea may now have enough Pu for six or eight more weapons. In 2005, North Korea announced it had nuclear weapons, but rejoined the Six-Party Talks in July and agreed to abandon its nuclear weapons program in September 2005. The failure of the talks has allowed North Korea to continue to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons. The United States and other countries have condemned the North Korean nuclear test and called for sanctions. This report will be updated as needed. Background In the early1980s, U.S. satellites tracked a growing indigenous nuclear program in North Korea. A small nuclear reactor at Yongbyon (5MWe), capable of producing about 6kg of plutonium per year, began operating in 1986.1 Later that year, U.S. satellites detected high explosives testing and a new plant to separate plutonium. In addition, construction of two larger reactors (50MWe at Yongbyon and 200MWe at Taechon) added to evidence of a serious clandestine effort. Although North Korea had joined the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 1985, the safeguards inspections that began only in 1992 raised questions about how much plutonium North Korea had produced covertly. In 1994, North Korea pledged, under the Agreed Framework with the United States, to freeze its plutonium programs and eventually dismantle them in return for several kinds Congressional Research Service + The Library of Congress 1 5MWe is a power rating for the reactor, indicating that it produces 5 million watts of electricity per day (very small). Reactors are also described in terms of million watts of heat (MW thermal).

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