US scientists' 'shock' over N. Korea's nuke advances at new facility

Washington, Nov 22 (ANI): Some American scientists have expressed shock after visiting North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear facility, saying that a row of centrifuges have been designed to enrich uranium.

Robert Carlin and two other Stanford University nuclear experts, who were recently invited to the facility, have said that it is much more advanced than expected."It's going to drop like a bombshell. We walked over to the window and we were suddenly surprised to see row after row after row of centrifuges. The North Koreans say it was 2,000. It was a lot," ABC News quoted Carlin, as saying.

"None of the experts that I knew predicted the North Koreans could build anything like this number. ... Everybody predicted they were at a very early stage. I'm not kidding you, I think our minds went blank for a second because it was so stunning," he added.

Although North Korea insists the site is designed only for nuclear power, American experts fear that the facility could be soon converted to make highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons, or possibly North Korea is hiding another site that is already doing that.

"It alarmed me and the reason was it was such a surprise. It showed me that the policy that we've been following seems to be at a dead end," Carlin warned.

North Korea has been subject to international sanctions since it defied world opinion by conducting two nuclear tests and test-firing ballistic missiles in 2006. Earlier this year, the US had intensified sanctions against North Korea in a move designed to punish Pyongyang for sinking a South Korean ship and pursuing nuclear weapons.

However, the sanctions did not stop the country from obtaining the technology it needed, the report said. (ANI)