New Tunneling Activity at the North Korean Nuclear Test Site

New Tunneling Activity at the North Korean Nuclear Test Site

 

A 38 North exclusive with contributions by Nick Hansen and Jack Liu

 

June 25, 2013

 

Recent satellite imagery of North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site has revealed new tunneling work being done at the West Portal area, the site of the 2009 and possibly 2013 nuclear tests. This activity appears to have begun by late April 2013 and gathered momentum over the next few months.

 

Imagery from June 1 shows a large new spoil and tailings dumpsite along the road between the West Portal and the old dump site that went into a canyon to the east. The light gray color of the new spoil/tailings indicates that it is rock from inside the mountain and not the surrounding brown dirt.

 

 

While it is too early to determine the exact purpose of this new activity, three possibilities are: 1) construction of another tunnel at the West Portal that will take several years to complete; 2) completion or repair of a tunnel at the West Portal area; and 3) the clearing of debris from existing tunnels probably caused by past nuclear tests.

 

The dangers of radioactivity from past detonations are probably minimal in the first two cases, but opening a sealed tunnel previously used for a nuclear test would be hazardous.

 

These activities do not appear to be part of preparations for a nuclear test in the near-term. Rather, they seem to be long-term projects-a conclusion reinforced by the presence of installed cart rails-that may be necessary for the conduct of future tests.

 

Find the full analysis and latest satellite imagery here.

 

Source: 38north.org

 

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