북한 플루토늄 생산 재개...플루토늄 생산 및 핵 개발 과정은?
With North Korea's plutonium reprocessing plant back in the global spotlight, there are growing interest on exactly how plutonium can be reprocessed to make nuclear weapons.
And, what about uranium bombs?
Our Lee Min-young has a thorough explanation of the entire process as well as the difference between plutonium and uranium-based weapons.
The immense destructive power of atomic weapons derives from a sudden release of energy produced by splitting the nuclei of fissile elements....which is called 'fissioning'.
Uranium-235 and plutonium-239 are isotopes that undergo fission.
In a nuclear reactor, the fissioning of uranium-235 produces two to three neutrons, and these neutrons are absorbed by uranium-238...which produces plutonium 239.
To extract only plutonium 239, the two physically and chemically different atoms must be separated in a reprocessing plant.
The reason why plutonium is used in creating an atomic bomb is because of it's capability of fissioning...as it yields much more power than uranium 235 per mass.
The nuclear bomb dropped on Nagasaki by the U.S. during the Second World War...was a plutonium bomb, equivalent to about 20 kilotons... which was powerful enough to wipe out the whole city..and instantly kill 70-thousand people.
North Korea is known to be able to acquire fissile material for making nuclear weapons by reprocessing weapons-grade plutonium in its Yongbyon complex...which runs a 5MW graphite-moderated reactor to do so.
After starting construction of the facility back in 1976, North Korea temporarily destroyed a water cooling tower at the facility... in a bid to meet the obligations it agreed to during the six party talks of 2007.
However, after five years, the reclusive state threatened to restart its Yongbyon plant to expand its nuclear weapons arsenals.
After that in 2015, activity in the facility was detected several times by the website 38 North...until the IAEA detected plutonium production in the nuclear plant on Tuesday.
Experts say that if the facility operates in full capacity, it could produce enough plutonium to make several nuclear bombs.
"...they are supposed to produce approximately 12 kilograms of plutonium which is more than enough to fabricate 2 to 3 nuclear warheads if they are lucky enough.."
In the worst case scenario...the expert said that a plutonium bomb that produces a yield tantamount to the Nagasaki bomb...would probably wipe out the whole city of Seoul,...impacting an area of about 15 kilometers or even 20 kilometers.
Lee Minyoung, Arirang News.
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