IAEA says North Korea has built new uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon

The International Atomic Energy Agency says North Korea has built a new two-storey uranium enrichment facility at the Yongbyon nuclear complex. The watchdog described the development as a cause for serious concern and said the building appears capable of housing multiple centrifuge cascades. The assessment adds to evidence that the country is continuing to expand its nuclear infrastructure.

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The agency said the new building is part of the main Yongbyon complex and could accommodate up to 28 centrifuge cascades used to enrich uranium. It said the findings were based on satellite imagery because it has had no inspectors in North Korea since 2009, when its staff were expelled. In a statement earlier this week, IAEA director Rafael Grossi said the continuation and further development of North Korea's nuclear programme are clear violations of relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The report also said North Korea has begun operating an expanded annex at another enrichment site, adding to concerns about the scale of its programme. The agency first referred to the existence of the Yongbyon building in June, and Grossi had mentioned the possibility earlier in the year. In June, the IAEA said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a newly inaugurated nuclear materials production factory on 3 June, which it identified as the Yongbyon enrichment facility.

The agency said Kim praised the country's greatly expanded production capacity and said it would offer the possibility of carrying out larger plans. The latest findings matter because uranium enrichment is a key step in producing fuel for nuclear weapons, and Yongbyon remains central to international concern over North Korea's capabilities. North Korea declared itself a nuclear power in 2022 and said it would never give up its weapons.

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The new assessment suggests that, despite sanctions and diplomatic pressure, the country's nuclear programme continues to advance in ways that are difficult to verify directly. The IAEA's reliance on satellite imagery underlines the limits of outside monitoring in North Korea, where access for inspectors has been blocked for years. Analysts quoted in the reporting said the secrecy surrounding the programme makes it difficult to know how many facilities are active or concealed.

The report also pointed to indications that operations may have started at another enrichment facility in Kangson, near Pyongyang, in January this year. What remains unclear is how quickly the new Yongbyon facility is becoming operational and how much material it may eventually produce. It is also not known whether the expanded annex at the other site is already contributing to output at scale.

The IAEA is likely to continue monitoring the programme remotely, while the findings are expected to intensify scrutiny of North Korea's nuclear intentions and compliance with UN resolutions.

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