Report: North Korea's Nuclear Test Site 'Largely Unusable'
Chinese scientists studying the damage at the Punggye-ri facility estimate that the last blast rendered part of the site unusable and that another test will lead to "environmental catastrophe," The Wall Street Journal reports
IsraelDefense
| 25/04/2018
Archive photo: AP
Chinese seismologists claim that a large part of North Korea’s underground nuclear test facility is unusable due to the collapse of a cavity inside the mountain after the latest test-detonation occurred, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
The experts, led by researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China, warned that another blast in the same spot and with a similar yield to the one on September 3, 2017, could cause "environmental catastrophe."
Another study, led by Chinese seismologists and published this month, also concluded that a secondary tremor shortly after the blast was caused by the cavity’s collapse, but made no judgment on whether the Punggye-ri test site could still be used.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced on Saturday that he was suspending nuclear and missile tests and closing the Punggye-ri facility, where all six of his country’s nuclear tests took place. His announcement was welcomed by the US, South Korea, and China as a positive step ahead of the inter-Korean summit scheduled for Friday and the planned meeting between Kim and US President Donald Trump.
According to the TWS report, US officials and North Korea watchers are debating how meaningful Kim’s moves are. Some see them as major concessions and others, arguing that Punggye-ri is unusable, call them empty gestures designed to gain leverage with Washington and Seoul while remaining determined to retain his nuclear weapons.
Chinese scientists studying the damage at the Punggye-ri facility estimate that the last blast rendered part of the site unusable and that another test will lead to "environmental catastrophe," The Wall Street Journal reports
Archive photo: AP
Chinese seismologists claim that a large part of North Korea’s underground nuclear test facility is unusable due to the collapse of a cavity inside the mountain after the latest test-detonation occurred, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
The experts, led by researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China, warned that another blast in the same spot and with a similar yield to the one on September 3, 2017, could cause "environmental catastrophe."
Another study, led by Chinese seismologists and published this month, also concluded that a secondary tremor shortly after the blast was caused by the cavity’s collapse, but made no judgment on whether the Punggye-ri test site could still be used.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced on Saturday that he was suspending nuclear and missile tests and closing the Punggye-ri facility, where all six of his country’s nuclear tests took place. His announcement was welcomed by the US, South Korea, and China as a positive step ahead of the inter-Korean summit scheduled for Friday and the planned meeting between Kim and US President Donald Trump.
According to the TWS report, US officials and North Korea watchers are debating how meaningful Kim’s moves are. Some see them as major concessions and others, arguing that Punggye-ri is unusable, call them empty gestures designed to gain leverage with Washington and Seoul while remaining determined to retain his nuclear weapons.
