N. Korea Plutonium Reactor Nears Restart, U.S. Monitor Says

North Korea is nearly finished work needed to restart a mothballed nuclear reactor used to produce weapons-grade plutonium, according to a U.S. institute that monitors the totalitarian country.

Commercial satellite images show North Korea “is making important progress” at the Yongbyon site, the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies said yesterday in a report on its 38 North website. The 5-megawatt graphite-rod reactor “may be 1-2 months from start up but the availability of fresh fuel rods to power the reactor remains uncertain.”