The Korea-U.S. Institute at John’s Hopkins University says that the North has resumed construction work to restart operations of nuclear facilities in Yongbyon.

The institute said on its website 38 North that the latest satellite images of the Yongbyon nuclear facilities taken on March 27th show signs of construction work surrounding the light water reactor. It said the signs were not noticeable in earlier photos on February seventh.

38 North said it found traces of excavation work related to cooling facilities, adding it projects the North’s recent construction work was aimed at replacing the cooling tower demolished in 2008.

It continued that Pyongyang is apparently trying to shorten the time until it resumes operations of its nuclear reactors by utilizing a backup cooling system instead of building a new cooling tower.