--- title: U.S. Warns North Korea About Restarting Its Nukes Program description: The U.S. has warned Pyongyang to refrain from "irresponsible provocation" after it said that its main nuclear facility was running again canonical: https://time.com/4035721/north-korea-nuclear-weapons-plutonium/ author: Lisa Spear article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-16T02:54:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T10:57:55.700Z article:section: World og:title: U.S. Warns North Korea on Restarting Nukes Program og:description: Washington calls on Pyongyang to refrain from "irresponsible provocation" og:url: https://time.com/4035721/north-korea-nuclear-weapons-plutonium/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b54c4c27d0c14a6/698863cc3c16390949459bf7/gettyimages-481898318.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: GettyImages-481898318 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.S. Warns North Korea on Restarting Nukes Program twitter:description: Washington calls on Pyongyang to refrain from "irresponsible provocation" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b54c4c27d0c14a6/698863cc3c16390949459bf7/gettyimages-481898318.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The U.S. Warns North Korea About Restarting Its Nukes Program by [Lisa Spear](/author/lisa-spear/) ## Lisa Spear Sep 16, 2015 2:54 AM CUT  Construction at the Uranium Enrichment Facility at Yongbyon, North Korea, on July 21, 2015. Construction at the Uranium Enrichment Facility at Yongbyon, North Korea, on July 21, 2015.DigitalGlobe/ScapeWare3d—2015 DigitalGlobe by [Lisa Spear](/author/lisa-spear/) ## Lisa Spear Sep 16, 2015 2:54 AM CUT Washington has [warned](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34263953 "undefined") Pyongyang to refrain from “irresponsible provocation” after North Korea announced that the country’s main nuclear facility was up and running on Tuesday after eight years of deactivation. The White House said North Korea should “focus instead on fulfilling its international obligations,” the BBC reports. The reactor at Yongbyon is the source of plutonium for North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. It was shut down in 2007 as part of a deal to receive international aid but is now reportedly running normally. Experts believe that the facility is capable of creating one nuclear bomb’s worth of plutonium every year. Reports out of Pyongyang claim that North Korea has created a nuclear warhead capable of being launched at its enemies. The international community will not accept North Korea as a nuclear state, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. \[[BBC](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34263953 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4035721/north-korea-nuclear-weapons-plutonium/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4035721/north-korea-nuclear-weapons-plutonium/"},"headline":"The U.S. Warns North Korea About Restarting Its Nukes Program","datePublished":"2015-09-16T02:54:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:57:55.700Z","description":"Experts believe Pyongyang is capable of creating one nuclear bomb's worth of plutonium every year","url":"https://time.com/4035721/north-korea-nuclear-weapons-plutonium/","keywords":["North Korea","Nuclear","pyongyang","Weapons"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b54c4c27d0c14a6/698863cc3c16390949459bf7/gettyimages-481898318.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Spear","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-spear/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b54c4c27d0c14a6/698863cc3c16390949459bf7/gettyimages-481898318.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-481898318","caption":"YONGBYON NUCLEAR FACILITY, NORTH KOREA - JULY 21, 2015: Figure 4. Construction at the Uranium Enrichment Facility. Date: July 21, 2015. Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center. Mandatory credit: Image © 2015 DigitalGlobe Inc./38 North.","creditText":"DigitalGlobe/ScapeWare3d—2015 DigitalGlobe","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4035721/north-korea-nuclear-weapons-plutonium/","name":"The U.S. Warns North Korea About Restarting Its Nukes Program"}}]}] ```