The 2006 North Korean nuclear test , the first by the DPRK , is also said to have had a magnox reactor as the root source of its plutonium , operated in Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center in North Korea . This test detonation resulted in the creation of a low-yield fizzle explosion , producing an estimated yield of approximately 0.48 kilotons , from an undisclosed isotopic composition . The 2009 North Korean nuclear test likewise was based on plutonium . Both produced a yield of 0.48 to 2.3 kiloton of TNT equivalent respectively and both were described as fizzle events due to their low yield , with some commentators even speculating whether or not , at the lower yield estimates for the 2006 test , that instead the blast may have been simply the equivalent of US$ 100,000 worth of ammonium nitrate
2009 North Korean nuclear test
2009 North Korean nuclear test
Reactor-grade plutonium