S. Korea Confirms Traces of Radioactive Gas From North Korea’s Nuclear Test

Mountain that likely served as the test site for North Korea’s five nuclear blasts is at risk of imminent collapse. (Planet Labs Inc / CC by SA 4.0)

 South Korea said on Wednesday traces of radioactive xenon gas were confirmed to be from a North Korean nuclear test earlier this month, but it was unable to conclude whether the test had been a hydrogen bomb as Pyongyang claimed.

North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test on Sept. 3, prompting the U.N. Security Council to step up sanctions with a ban on the reclusive regime’s textile exports and a cap on fuel supplies.

The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) said its land-based xenon detector in the northeastern part of the country found traces of xenon-133 isotope on nine occasions, while its mobile equipment off the country’s east coast detected traces of the isotope four times.

“It was difficult to find out how powerful the nuclear test was with the amount of xenon detected, but we can say the xenon was from North Korea,” Choi Jongbae, executive commissioner, told a news conference in Seoul.

In this handout photo released by the South Korean Defense Ministry, South Korea's Hyunmu-2 ballistic missile is fired during an exercise aimed to counter North Korea's nuclear test on September 4, 2017 in East Coast, South Korea. (South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images)

South Korean troops fire Hyunmoo Missile into the waters of the East Sea at a military exercise in South Korea September 4, 2017. Defense Ministry/Yonhap/via REUTERS

The site of the purported North Korean nuclear test.
(USGS)