A newly built uranium enrichment facility at North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex is large enough to house up to 28 cascades of centrifuges, according to an analysis by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The agency also said it had detected signs that an expanded enrichment facility at Kangson, near Pyongyang, has been operating since early this year.
In a report on safeguards in North Korea released on the 7th of this month, the IAEA assessed that the country has continued to expand its uranium enrichment capacity at Yongbyon and Kangson since 2021, Voice of America reported on the 9th.
North Korea released photographs of a new uranium enrichment facility in June, showing cascades — the centrifuge assemblies used in enrichment — installed on the first and second floors. A cascade links multiple centrifuges to raise uranium concentration in stages.
By comparing the North Korean photographs with satellite imagery, the IAEA identified the building as the second uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon. It estimated that the structure could accommodate up to 28 of the cascades seen in the photographs. The agency said it had not been able to confirm the exact number of centrifuges installed in each cascade, their performance or the actual operating rate.
Construction of the new Yongbyon facility began in December 2024 and exterior work was completed in May last year, followed by the installation of power supply equipment, emergency generators and cooling units. The IAEA said it also observed one of the cooling units in operation early this year.
The agency said it had seen moves to raise output at the Kangson uranium enrichment facility near Pyongyang as well. It said it had detected signs that an annex built next to the existing building in 2024 began operating in January this year. The IAEA said it could not rule out the possibility that highly enriched uranium is being produced in parts of the building.
It added that the original No. 1 uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon appeared to have remained in operation during the reporting period, and that reprocessing work to separate plutonium from spent nuclear fuel appeared to have been completed.
"The simultaneous expansion of facilities at Yongbyon and Kangson means North Korea's total uranium enrichment capacity continues to grow," the IAEA said, adding that "the expansion of the North's enrichment capacity and the further development of its nuclear program are a clear violation of relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions." Safeguards in North Korea are included in the provisional agenda of the IAEA's 70th General Conference, to be held in Vienna from the 14th to the 18th of this month.
