North Korea has likely activated its uranium and plutonium enrichment plant in Yongbyon, North Pyongan Province, according to a Washington think tank on Monday.

North Korea monitoring website 38 North, a project of The Stimson Center, observed melted snow atop some of the buildings at the Uranium Enrichment Plant complex via satellite imagery taken on February 1, concluding that the heat produced from the facility's operation has melted the snow.

According to Olli Heinonen, the absence of snow was observed on top of control, feeding and withdrawal stations for uranium hexafluoride, which are heated only when the building is in operation.

The same conditions were noticed on several auxiliary buildings, including those responsible for assembling and balancing centrifuges and equipment decontamination.

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