U.S. Intelligence Chief: North Korea's Plutonium Reactor Has Been Restarted

News agencies across the world, such as the BBC, are reporting that North Korea has "restarted" a plutonium production reactor that could be used for nuclear weapons.

The U.S. intelligence chief James Clapper said that North Korea has also taken steps towards making an intercontinental ballistic missile, BBC added.

"We assess that North Korea has followed through on its announcement by expanding its Yongbyon enrichment facility and restarting the plutonium production reactor," Mr. Clapper told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"We further assess that North Korea has been operating the reactor long enough so that it could begin to recover plutonium from the reactor's spent fuel within a matter of weeks to months."

U.S. equities were trading in negative territory on Tuesday but rebounded from the morning session lows.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) was trading at $184.51, down less than 0.50 percent by late Tuesday morning after hitting an intra-day low of $183.20.