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Focus on the 50MWe Reactor

October 15, 2003

The 50MWe reactor was under construction at the time of the Agreed Framework in 1994. Theconstruction of the facility was “frozen” under the terms of that agreement.

According to an October 5, 2002 article in Choson Ilbo, US intelligence reported seeing “trucks, personnel and equipment” around the 50 MWe site in September. A satellite photo from October 15, 2003 show no major construction activities at the site. There are no vehicles or construction equipment visible in the .6m resolution image taken by the Quickbird satellite belonging to DigitalGlobe. In addition, when compared to an image from June, no change is visible in the roads entering the site or in any of the features on the ground inside the perimeter. This assessment includes the partially constructed buildings on the premises. There appears to be a shift in the horizontal position of a construction crane on the main reactor building itself. However, the image does not show, as a whole, significant changes in the site or the establishment of an infrastructure to support resumed or onging construction activities.