INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
North Korea for the first time showed images of the centrifuges that produce fuel for its nuclear bombs on Friday, as leader Kim Jong Un
visited a uranium enrichment facility and called for more weapons-grade material to boost the arsenal.The state media report on Kim&s visit
to the Nuclear Weapons Institute and a production base for weapon-grade nuclear materials was accompanied by the first photos of the
centrifuges, providing a rare look inside North Korea&s nuclear programme, which is banned under multiple United Nations Security Council
resolutions, Reuters reported.The photos showed Kim walking between long rows of metal centrifuges, the machines that enrich uranium
The report did not make clear when the visit occurred nor the facility&s location.Kim urged workers to produce more materials for tactical
nuclear weapons, saying the country&s nuclear arsenal is vital for confronting threats from the United States and its allies.The weapons are
needed for &self-defence and the capability for a preemptive attack,& he said.The North Korean leader said &anti-DPRK nuclear threats& from
imperialists-led vassal forces& have crossed the red-line, according to the report.South Korea condemned North Korea&s unveiling of its
uranium enrichment facility and will never accept Pyongyang&s possession of nuclear weapons, the South&s unification ministry said.North
Korea is believed to have several sites for enriching uranium
Analysts say commercial satellite imagery has shown construction in recent years at the main Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center,
including its uranium enrichment plant, suggesting possible expansion.Uranium is a radioactive element that exists naturally
To make nuclear fuel, raw uranium undergoes processes that result in a material with an increased concentration of the isotope
uranium-235.International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday that the U.N
nuclear watchdog had observed activity consistent with the operation of a reactor and the reported centrifuge enrichment facility at
Yongbyon.NEW CENTRIFUGESKim stressed the need to boost the number of centrifuges so as to &exponentially increase& North Korea&s nuclear
arsenal, and expand the use of a new type of centrifuge to strengthen the production of weapon-grade nuclear materials.The centrifuges seen
in the photos appear smaller and shorter than the types previously believed to be used by North Korea, suggesting it had developed its own
centrifuges to enhance separation capabilities, said Lee Sang-kyu, a nuclear engineering expert at South Korea&s Korea Institute for Defense
Analysis.The photos also confirmed that the North is using a cascade system where large numbers of centrifuges are interconnected to achieve
highly enriched uranium, he added.The new type of centrifuge shows North Korea is advancing its fuel cycle capabilities, said Ankit Panda of
the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.&Kim also appears to suggest that North Korean tactical nuclear weapons designs
may primarily rely on uranium for their cores,& he said.This is notable because North Korea is more able to scale up its highly enriched
uranium stockpiles, Panda said, compared to the more complicated process for plutonium.‘INCREASING ARSENALS&North Korea invited some
foreign scientists to view a centrifuge facility at Yongbyon in 2010, but Jenny Town of the U.S.-based Stimson Center said Friday&s report
is the first and only photographs of the equipment.&It shows how advanced their enrichment capability has become, which gives greater
credibility to both their ability and commitment to increasing their nuclear weapons arsenals,& she said.It could also be meant to influence
election and send a message to the next administration that denuclearisation is no longer possible and it should recognise North Korea as a
nuclear state, said Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.North Korea has previously shown
photos of what it says were nuclear warheads
It has conducted six underground nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017.Estimates of the number of North Korean nuclear weapons varies widely
In July a report by the Federation of American Scientists concluded that the country may have produced enough fissile material to build up
to 90 nuclear warheads, but that it has likely assembled closer to 50.Kim also oversaw the test launch of a new 600mm multiple launch rocket
system on Thursday and visited an army training base on Wednesday, according to separate KCNA reports.The post North Korea shows first
photos of banned uranium enrichment site first appeared on Ariana News.
