North Korea may be able to produce 14 to 18 nuclear warheads by 2019 if the multilateral talks for its denuclearization fail, according to a leading expert. "If North Korea is able to refurbish its fuel fabrication plant, that production rate could continue indefinitely with its arsenal reaching 14-18 weapons by 2019," said Joel Wit, a visiting fellow at the Ploughshares-funded U.S. Korea Institute at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University [2], in a report titled "Four Scenarios for a nuclear North Korea." [3] He said that North Korea's "nuclear stockpile is believed to consist of sufficient plutonium to build 4-8 weapons…Using existing stocks of fresh fuel, North Korea could produce a bomb's worth of plutonium each year from 2011-2013.”
Links
[1] https://ploughshares.org/file/1554
[2] http://www.sais-jhu.edu
[3] http://www.eai.or.kr/data/bbs/eng_report/2009120314244460.pdf
[4] http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2010/02/17/82/0301000000AEN20100217001400315F.HTML