China fears North Korea’s nuclear arsenal

China’s top nuclear experts have increased their estimates of North Korea’s nuclear weapons production well beyond most previous US figures, suggesting Pyongyang can make enough warheads to threaten regional ­security.

The latest Chinese estimates, relayed in a closed-door meeting with US nuclear specialists, showed that North Korea may ­already have 20 warheads, as well as the capability of producing enough weapons-grade uranium to double its arsenal by next year, sources said.

A well-stocked nuclear ­armoury in North Korea ramps up security fears in Japan and South Korea, which could seek their own nuclear weapons in defence.

“I’m concerned that by 20, they actually have a nuclear arsenal,” said Siegfried Hecker, a Stanford University professor and former head of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, who attended the closed-door meeting in February. “The more they believe they have a fully functional nuclear arsenal and deterrent, the more difficult it’s going to be to walk them back from that.”

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/china-fears-north-koreas-nuclear-arsenal/story-e6frg6so-1227317704687