He did not offer details, but U.S. nuclear experts David Albright and Paul Brannan speculated on what might take place.

“All of these options can be reversed, but not quickly,” the scientists with the Institute for Science and International Security said in a report released last week.

They expect irradiated fuel rods to be removed from the Yongbyon plutonium-production reactor, effectively putting it out of commission. It would take six to 12 months to completely refuel and then burn the rods in a way that can lead to efficient plutonium extraction.

Once the fuel is removed, additional steps could be taken with the reactor that would take even more time to reverse.

“Disablement is a process, kind of an interim step that can lead us to that final stage,” said Chun Yung-woo, the South’s chief envoy to the six-way nuclear talks.

But even if it wanted to reverse the process, isolated North Korea lacks funds for expensive repairs and is subject to international export controls that make it difficult or impossible to acquire certain nuclear components.

And time is not on its side. The longer its ageing complex is disabled, the longer it will take to restart, experts said.

“The site is frozen in the 1950s and more closely resembles a junk yard than an evil regime’s nuclear nerve center,” wrote Jon Wolfsthal, a nuclear expert who has visited Yongbyon, in a paper this month for the Center for Strategic & International Studies.

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