Poté odstoupil od dohody o neútočení dojednané v roce 1994 Clintonovou administrativou, vyhostil inspektory Mezinárodní agentury pro atomovou energii a začal zpracovávat vyhořelé palivo, z něhož by se dalo vyrobit plutonium do dalších šesti pum.
After it withdrew from a restraining agreement negotiated by the Clinton administration in 1994, it expelled International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors and began reprocessing spent fuel that could produce another six bombs’ worth of plutonium.