World | North Korea N Korea Relaunches Nuke Plant Country makes disclosure hours after UN sanctions announced By Jess Kilby Posted Apr 25, 2009 5:40 AM CDT Copied North Korea's spent nuclear fuel rods are kept in a cooling pond at the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon, North Korea, in this 1996 file photo. (AP Photo/Yonhap, File) North Korea has begun harvesting weapons-grade plutonium from its spent nuclear fuel rods, the BBC reports. The official announcement comes on the heels of UN sanctions against three North Korean companies accused of helping the country with its long-range rocket launch earlier this month. Pyongyang called the sanctions—which freeze the companies’ assets and prohibit other countries from trading with them—"a wanton violation of the UN charter.” Read These Next And ... 23,000 pages of Epstein files are now out. Trump commuted his sentence. Now he's headed back behind bars. White House summoned Lauren Boebert over support of Epstein petition. Breaking Bad creator's new show is wowing critics. Report an error