U.S. Expert Saw Hundreds of Centrifuges in North Korea[

[Hissyspit]

Source: Reuters

U.S. expert saw hundreds of centrifuges in North Korea
Sat Nov 20, 2010 10:06pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. nuclear scientist saw hundreds of centrifuges in North Korea this month, sources familiar with the matter said on Saturday, buttressing the case that Pyongyang has a uranium enrichment program that would give it a second way to obtain fissile material for bombs.

One source said the expert, Stanford University's Siegfried Hecker, was told by North Korean officials they had 2,000 centrifuges operating but the U.S. team that visited the country was unable to verify that. "But it certainly looked like an operating facility (to the team)," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

North Korea has said it wants to return to stalled aid-for-disarmament talks but both Seoul and Washington have dismissed its pledges to denuclearize as insincere. "Presumably, (Pyongyang's nuclear program has) taken a new turn. And presumably it's taken the turn that we were hoping ... it wouldn't take and we were trying to forestall," the same source said.

Even though it has exploded nuclear devices, North Korea has not shown it has a working nuclear bomb.

Read more: http://us.mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AK06520101121?ca=rdt

[Demeter]

1. What Kind of Expert Is He?

I'd want to see both his CV and his political donations....

[FreakinDJ]

2. Don't shoot the messenger - He has Impeccable Credentials

Siegfried S. Hecker is a professor (research) in the Department of Management Science and Engineering, a senior fellow at FSI, and co-director of CISAC. He is also an emeritus director of Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Hecker's research interests include plutonium science, nuclear weapon policy and international security, nuclear security (including nonproliferation and counter terrorism), and cooperative nuclear threat reduction. Over the past 18 years, he has fostered cooperation with the Russian nuclear laboratories to secure and safeguard the vast stockpile of ex-Soviet fissile materials.

http://cisac.stanford.edu/people/siegfriedshecker/

You might not like the message but this guy is an Nuclear expert of unimpeachable caliber

[struggle4progress]

4. Mr Impeccable Credentials isn't the messager: Anonymous Source is

[struggle4progress]

3. anonymous source says so-and-so saw

the story doesn't make any sense

why would nk show the guy something and brag they were successfully hiding it?

and if guy isn't talking about his visit, why is anonymous source?

this is somebody's game using media

[hayu_lol]

5. More faulty journalism...

"saw" and "told about" are the buzzwords.

Not much accuracy in the newstip.

Big difference between 'hundreds' and 'thousands(2000)' as well. Drop in the carrots, tomatoes, meat, onions, stir well, and cook over a slow fire. That's the ticket.

[groundloop]

6. Yes, but were there any Aluminum Tubes???

[ProgressiveMajority]

7. North Korean Confirms Uranium Claims: "Young general has got what it takes"

Source: Asia Times

Young general has got what it takes
By Kim Myong Chol

The population of North Korea has been in a state of euphoria since the "young general" Kim Jong-eun was anointed as heir apparent to legendary peerless leader Kim Jong-il. His anointment guarantees a bright and rosy future for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

...

America's top authority on nuclear weapons said that the plant was "astonishingly modern" and "would fit into any American processing facility."

The construction of a micro light-water reactor and a highly sophisticated uranium-enrichment plant is a strong indication of the two Kims' determination to establish a totally independent, indigenous nuclear industry, another paragon of juche (self-reliance), without even the slightest compromise of independence made when achieving the nuclear reactor technology.

Read More: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/LK23Dg01.html

Couldn't get much clearer! North Korea spent a long time denying the Uranium enrichment facilities because they thought they had something to gain by doing so. Just like the fact they denied their first nuclear program (plutonium enrichment) was weapons related until around the time they tested a bomb. Now the Uranium enrichment program is going full throttle and the game was basically up, so they gain face and Kim Jong Un gains prestige by confirming that they do have a highly sophisticated Uranium Enrichment program. Now, they have not announced their Uranium Enrichment program to the UN or through official channels, that's because doing so would mean that China and Russia would than actually have to take action. As it is, China and Russia will deny the existence of this program until North Korea tests a 100 Kiloton Uranium based bomb (just like they did with with the DPRK's Plutonium based bomb program).

Interesting though.. if this program has in fact been going on for since 2002, when Shrub first claimed to have evidence of a North Korean Uranium enrichment program, than the light water deal that Carter and Clinton penned would have basically been handing the DPRK components that would have accelerated the attainment of much more powerful Uranium based fission weapons.

I think the real solution here is just to accept that the DPRK will have powerful nuclear weapons. They only have them as a deterrent to a US Iraq style invasion anyway. They know that using them would be suicide.

EDIT: For those interested you can calculate the deadly radius of a nuclear bomb blast on the following site:
http://www.carloslabs.com/node/16