North Korea is claiming to have completed the reprocessing of eight-thousand spent fuel rods by the end of August.

The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that following the United Nations Security Council sanctions imposed on the North in April, the North began reprocessing spent fuel rods.

KCNA said the North began its project to reprocess the fuel rods as part of measures to restore Yongbyon nuclear facilities that were disabled in accordance with six-party agreements.

The U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on the North after it launched a long-range rocket in April. Pyongyang claimed that it was putting a satellite into orbit.