Global nuclear scientists say North Korea has the capability to conduct another nuclear test within two weeks, but it's weighing the odds of the political price it would pay for following through.

In a report published on the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Frank Pabian and Siegfried Hecker said a tunnel that was recently finished has been judged "capable of accommodating another test in as little as two weeks.”

The report explained that despite strong technical and military forces pushing Pyongyang to run additional tests, the North has apparently concluded the "political price of another test is too high.”

Pabian is senior geospatial information analyst at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Hecker is the codirector of the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University.

The report said that unlike its two previous nuclear tests, North Korea is likely to use highly enriched uranium should it go ahead with another test.