North Korea has enough uranium for six nuclear bombs, expert claims

The South Korean nuclear expert told the Yonhap news agency so as to Pyongyang appeared to have started relying on enrichment activities since of its dwindling stock of plutonium after two rounds of nuclear tests.

In November 2010, North Korea exposed its uranium enrichment plant to US scientist Siegfried Hecker, claiming it was organism used for energy development. The plant was thought to have been operational in 2009 meaning it can have produced enough enriched uranium for up to six bombs.

The South Korean expert, who was not named, said, "If the North Korean claim is true, it could permit the North to make some 88lbs (40kg) of highly enriched uranium per year, sufficient for one or two atomic weapons."Last month, a failed long-range rocket test drew censure from the UN Security Council. The test, which saw the rocket break up and fall into the sea off the Korean peninsula, was extensively thought to be a disguised attempt to try out excluded long-range missile technology.