Traces of Highly Enriched Uranium Found on North Korean Plutonium Documents

by Richardson ~ June 21st, 2008. Filed under: Nuclear Proliferation, Six-Party Talks, WMD.

This is almost too good to be true - according to U.S. intelligence sources, the physical records of plutonium processing North Korea gave the U.S. for determining how much had been processed had trace amounts of highly enriched uranium (HEU) on them, and likely not possible transfer from Pakistani equipment supplied by prolific proliferator A.Q. Khan:

The United States in recent weeks has obtained new intelligence — fresh traces of highly enriched uranium discovered among 18,000 pages of North Korean documents…
[…]
Sources said that traces of highly enriched uranium were found on the 18,000 pages of Yongbyon reactor records provided by North Korea to the United States last month. North Korea provided the documents, which date back to 1987, to help the Bush administration verify the amount of plutonium it produced in the reactor. But the documents have become central to the debate over Pyongyang’s possible enrichment activities.

The uranium enrichment data are preliminary, though at least one source familiar with the intelligence said experts had concluded it did not come from Pakistan. Other sources, however, said there was still a dispute on that question. Analysts also do not know how the documents might have been handled and how they could have come into contact with a possible enrichment program.
[…]
“They have been either seeking or have gotten or have done something on the highly enriched uranium side,” Rice said Thursday… “The problem is we don’t actually know what they’ve done. I will tell you that the more we dig into it and the more we actually talk to them about it, the more concerning it is.” (emphasis added)

Maybe the Xerox machine was kaput? Sort of like dropping your wallet at the bank you’re robbing, or writing the hold-up note on your own deposit slip.

North Korea had a HEU program, there doesn’t seem to be a credible question about that. The only real question is whether or not the Bush administration will pursue this, or sweep it under the run and stay in Legacy Mode™.

2 Responses to Traces of Highly Enriched Uranium Found on North Korean Plutonium Documents

  1. NKeconWatch

    First it was Yokota’s remains, and now this. The DPRK needs a new “Ministry of High-Level, Politically-Sensitive Handovers to Foreign Powers” because the current outfit is not doing them any favors…

  2. Richardson

    It’s pretty much a comedy of such errors, from the Rangoon bombing, to KAL 858, trying to hide nuke sites but seemingly oblivious to satellite imagery, the bones, and now this.

    The worst part is that they’ll probably get a pass on all of it.

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