North Korea to Restart Yongbyon Nuclear Power Plant

From Wall Street Journal (4/2/2013):

Pyongyang to Restart Nuclear Plant

SEOUL—North Korea said on Tuesday it would restart its Yongbyon nuclear plant to provide material for its weapons program and electricity, a move that will add to tensions driven by Pyongyang's recent war rhetoric.

The reactor at the plant, 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of Pyongyang, was shuttered in 2007 as part of an aid-for-disarmament deal. North Korea revealed a uranium-enrichment facility at the plant in 2010.

In a statement issued from its state news agency, North Korea said work to restart all facilities at Yongbyon will be "put into practice without delay."

North Korea has said its nuclear-weapons program is now non-negotiable and will be built up in order to provide security from what it sees as threats from the U.S. On Feb. 12, North Korea staged its third test of a nuclear weapon, a move that triggered an escalation in tensions on the Korean peninsula and a series of provocative war-like threats from Pyongyang.

North Korea also has frequent power shortages because of its weak energy infrastructure.

Nikkei Shinbun reports that plutonium extraction may resume.

In the meantime, the U.S. Navy is shifting a guided-missile destroyer, USS McCain, in the Pacific to waters off the Korean peninsula, as reported by NBC News.

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