See:
<http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/06/21/2010062101166.html>http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/06/21/2010062101166.html
Quote entire article:
Radioactivity Detected After N. Korea Nuclear Fusion Claim
Right after North Korea claimed a successful
nuclear fusion test on May 12, the northernmost
radiation detection station of the [South] Korea
Institute of Nuclear Safety detected an eightfold
increase in the radioactive substance xenon, it emerged Sunday.
Since nuclear fusion is the core process in
hydrogen bombs, there is speculation that the
North actually ran a small-scale nuclear test to
develop the technology at the time.
On May 14, two days after the North's
announcement, air analysis of KINS's radiation
detection station in Geojin, Gangwon Province
showed about eight times as much xenon as in
ordinary times, a government official said.
"Authorities concerned have concentrated on analyzing this," he added.
Like krypton, xenon is a gaseous radioactive
matter that is produced as a result of nuclear
fission. It is regarded as the surest proof of a
nuclear test because it does not interact chemically with other matters.
Seoul detected increased concentrations of xenon
a few days after Pyongyang conducted a nuclear
test in North Hamgyong Province in 2006.
A nuclear expert said fusion technology normally
uses magnetic fields or laser beams to compress
tritium. "But an atomic bomb is used to compress
the tritium in hydrogen bombs. If xenon was
detected, it must have been produced in such a process."
But Seoul is skeptical about the veracity of
Pyongyang's announcement, saying the North
doesn't have the expensive test reactor needed
for nuclear fusion, and the claim that it has
succeeded in creating a nuclear fusion reaction
for power generation is implausible since no
country has yet managed to put fusion-based power
generation to commercial use.
But the government has kept the lid on the KINS's
detection of xenon or the result of its analysis.
"Xenon can be detected as a result of a nuclear
test as well as of the operation of a power plant," the official said.
The North's official Rodong Shinmun daily on May
12 claimed scientists "succeeded in a nuclear
fusion test with the country's own technology."
Hwang Jang-yop (87), a former secretary of the
North Korean Workers' Party who defected to the
South in 1997, said, "The North has studied
making hydrogen bombs from the beginning. A
successful nuclear fusion test is a possibility."
A quote from another article here:
<http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/2727/become-the-sun>http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/2727/become-the-sun
DPRK Succeeds in Nuclear Fusion
Pyongyang, May 12 (KCNA) Scientists of the DPRK
succeeded in nuclear fusion reaction on the
significant occasion of the Day of the Sun this
year, according to Rodong Sinmun Wednesday.
It goes on:
The successful nuclear fusion marks a great event
that demonstrated the rapidly developing
cutting-edge science and technology of the DPRK.
The nuclear fusion technology is called
artificial solar technology as it represents a
field of the latest science and technology for
the development of new energy desired by humankind
