Other Names: Radioactive Chemistry Research Institute, Radiochemistry Institute; Radiochemistry Laboratory, Radiochemical Laboratory, Radiochemistry Laboratory Complex [Note: The Radiochemistry Laboratory, which is a plutonium reprocessing facility, is affiliated with the Radiochemistry Institute. The “Radiochemistry Institute” and the “Radiochemistry Laboratory” are separate facilities, but many people often confuse the two. Another possibility is that the institute could have been called a “laboratory” when it was founded.]
Location: Pungang-chigu (分江地區), Yŏngbyŏn-kun (寧邊郡), North P’yŏng’an Province (平安北道), North Korea
Subordinate to: Yŏngbyŏn Nuclear Research Center (寧邊原子力硏究센터), General Department of Atomic Energy (原子力總局), Cabinet (內閣)
Size: The institute contains separate laboratories for radiochemistry, photometry, spectroscopy, X-ray analysis, analytical chemistry, radiation measurement, neutron analysis, and other activities.
Primary Function: Research and development, fuel fabrication and reprocessing
Description: North Korea established the Radiochemistry Institute with Soviet assistance in 1956. The institute focuses on various aspects of fuel fabrication research and reprocessing. According to contracts signed by North Korea and the USSR in accordance with their 1959 agreement on “the peaceful use of atomic energy,” the USSR was to provide technical assistance for the establishment of a North Korean nuclear research center. The contracts reportedly included the provision of twenty glove boxes and twenty hot cells for this institute. However, the current status of those glove boxes and hot cells is unknown. According to Georgiy Kaurov, former head of the Information Directorate of the Soviet Ministry of Atomic Energy, this facility has been able to extract radionuclides from irradiated fuel assemblies, and is able to conduct radiochemical research at the highest level. The Radiochemistry Laboratory, which was revealed to be a reprocessing facility during IAEA safeguards inspections in 1992, is under this institute. [Note: See the Radiochemistry Laboratory.]
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Updated April 2003 |
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Key Sources:
Hong Yun Ho, “Haekshisŏl 18 Kos’e Illyŏk 3,000 Myŏng,” Hankook Ilbo, 24 October 1994, p. 27, in KINDS, < http://www.kinds.com >; Gregory Karouv, “A Technical History of Soviet-North Korean Nuclear Relations,” in James Clay Moltz and Alexandre Y. Mansourov, eds., The North Korean Nuclear Program: Security, Strategy, and New Perspectives from Russia, (New York: Routledge, 2000), p. 17; Alexander Zhebin, A Political History of Soviet-North Korean Nuclear Cooperation, in James Clay Moltz and Alexandre Y. Mansourov, eds., The North Korean Nuclear Program: Security, Strategy, and New Perspectives from Russia (New York: Routledge, 2000), p. 30; ROK Ministry of National Defense, Taeryangsalsangmugi (WMD) Mundappaekkwa:Hwa Saeng Pang Missile Ŏlmana Algo Kyeshimnikka? (Seoul: Ministry of National Defense, 2001), pp. 95-96; Joseph S. Bermudez, Jr., “Exposing North Korea’s Secret Nuclear Infrastructure—Part Two,” Jane’s Intelligence Review, July 1999, p. 43; ROK Ministry of Unification, Pukhan Kaeyo 2000 (Seoul: Ministry of Unification, 1999), p. 413.
