The Nuclear-Weapons Complex and Denuclearization of North Korea

Abstract

The result of the implementation of the DPRK’s nuclear weapons program was the creation and successful testing of a thermonuclear explosive device. Over a fifty-year period, the nuclear industry was established in the country, including all the necessary enterprises, from uranium ore mining, enrichment, the production of uranium metal and uranium hexafluoride, and the production of special materials such as ultra-pure graphite, lithium-6 and lithium deuteride. The nuclear complex in Yongbyon played a central role in the implementation of the program, a reactor was built for the production of weapons-grade plutonium and tritium, production of fuel for this reactor was created, chemical reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuel with separation of plutonium was created, and uranium enrichment production plant was put in operation. The task of the complete controlled and irreversible denuclearization of the DPRK, put on the agenda, will require complete information about the North Korean nuclear weapons program and the nuclear weapons complex that was developed. However, the presented review shows that information about the state of the nuclear programs of the DPRK, due to the extreme closeness of the country, is very scarce and contradictory. In this regard, the implementation of denuclearization will require extraordinary effort, time, and a step-by-step approach.