Major flooding along a river in North Korea that runs alongside the country’s main nuclear facility could have resulted in damage to the complex, a U.S. monitoring website said Thursday.
Analysts at 38 North, a Washington-based think tank specializing in North Korean studies, said commercial satellite images from August 6 to August 11 showed that floodwaters along the Kuryong River “reached the two pump houses serving the reactors” on Yongbyon nuclear complex.
“The August 6 image, compared to the July 22 image, shows a dramatic rise in the water level of the Kuryong River that flows alongside the Yongbyon complex,” the group said.
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The Yongbyon complex is located about 60 miles north of Pyongyang and is the location of nuclear reactors, fire processing plants and uranium enrichment facilities that are thought to be used in the country’s nuclear weapons program.
A view from the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center shows flooding along the banks of the Kuryong River in Yongbyon, North Korea, on August 6, 2020. Image taken August 6, 2020.
(Airbus Defense and Space and 38 North / Pleiades © CNES 2020, Airbus DS / Handout Distribution via REUTERS)
The complex is the home base of a 5-megawatt nuclear reactor thought to be used to produce plutonium from weapons.
The think tank on Thursday gave an image of a completely submerged dam along the river, highlighting that the flood could potentially damage the pumps as well as piping systems that draw water from the river, shutting down the reactor.
38 North noted that although the reactor does not appear to be operating for quite some time and an experimental light water reactor (ELWR) has yet to come online, both will require a consistent water flow to operate.
“Damage to the pumps and pipes in the pump houses is the biggest vulnerability for the reactors,” the report said. “If the reactors were working, for example, the inability to cool them would require them to shut down.”
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Satellite data from earlier this week showed that waters had receded and that no damage had occurred to important facilities such as the Uranium Enrichment Plant (UEP), the think tank added.
The South Korean Ministry of Defense declined to comment on the report, according to the South Korean Yonhap News Agency.
“Our military always monitors the nuclear and missile activities of the North, and the authorities of South Korea and the United States maintain a close cooperation system,” said Deputy State Department spokesman Col. Moon Hong-sik during a regular press release.
In recent weeks, heavy rains on the Korean Peninsula have caused floods and runways and caused damage and deaths in both North and South Korea.
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North Korean state media did not mention any damage to Yongbyon, but reported this week that senior leaders were flooding an area, according to Reuters.
Women walk with umbrellas during torrential rain, Wednesday, August 5, 2020, in Pyongyang.
(AP Photo / Cha Song Ho)
On Friday, state media reported that leader Kim Jong Un was visiting southern parts of the Hermit Kingdom after torrential rains flooded hundreds of homes and large areas of agricultural land.
North Korea says torrential rains have polluted the country, raising concerns outside about possible major damage in the poor country.
(AP Photo / Cha Song Ho)
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim inspected a town in northern Hwanghae province, where a water supply gave way after a rainstorm.
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It’s rare for Kim to visit a flooded site.
In this photo provided by the North Korean government President North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a presidency meeting for executive policy on August 5, 2020.
(Korean Central News Agency / Korea News Service via AP)
The last time state media reported such a visit was in September 2015, when he inspected repair work at a flooded northeast city, according to Seoul’s Unification Ministry.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
