North Korea's new uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon may already be operating, Grossi says

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi [AFP/Yonhap]
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi [AFP/Yonhap]

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said South Korea has formally notified the agency of its intention to begin consultations toward concluding an agreement with the IAEA for the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines.

Speaking at a press conference at IAEA headquarters in Vienna on Monday (local time), Grossi said South Korea had "officially notified the secretariat of its intention to begin consultations with the IAEA on a separate arrangement under Article 14 of the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement," according to Voice of America.

He added that South Korea had already submitted relevant declaration materials to the IAEA and reaffirmed its commitment to fulfilling obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement and the Additional Protocol. "We look forward to continued consultations in the spirit of transparency," he said.

The NPT, to which South Korea is a signatory, prohibits non-nuclear-weapon states from diverting nuclear materials such as uranium to weapons development, and requires them to conclude a Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA and accept inspections and other safeguards measures.

However, Article 14 of the CSA allows non-nuclear-weapon states to use nuclear material for non-prohibited military purposes — most notably nuclear propulsion — through a separate arrangement with the IAEA.

The South Korean government believes that concluding such an Article 14 arrangement would go a long way toward addressing concerns in some quarters of the international community that enriched uranium intended for nuclear submarines could be diverted to weapons development.

Earlier, the government set a goal of launching the first nuclear-powered submarine in the mid-2030s, with the vessel to be commissioned and deployed to the Navy in the late 2030s.

However, it remains difficult to predict when a separate arrangement with the IAEA under Article 14 could be finalized. No such arrangement has ever been concluded, and Brazil and Australia — both of which began pursuing nuclear-powered submarines before South Korea — have each been in ongoing consultations with the IAEA on the matter for years.

Meanwhile, Grossi said North Korea's new uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon "may already be in operation or on the verge of becoming operational."


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