UN: Syria Was Building a Nuke Reactor  09/02 06:19

   

   VIENNA (AP) -- Syria was constructing a nuclear reactor in Deir el-Zour 
under the leadership of ousted former President Bashar Assad, according to a 
U.N. report seen Tuesday by The Associated Press.

   Inspectors with the U.N. nuclear watchdog visited several sites in Syria in 
August and carried out verification work that confirmed the existence of a 
long-suspected nuclear site, according to the confidential report circulated to 
member states.

   Based on this visit, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that it 
is "able to establish that the former Syrian authorities had failed to report 
nuclear material, facilities and activities as required under the NPT 
Safeguards Agreement."

   This information included a nuclear reactor under construction in Deir 
el-Zour, a fuel fabrication plant and another site used for fuel storage during 
the rule of Assad.

   Under Assad, Syria was believed to have operated an extensive undeclared 
nuclear program that included a nuclear reactor built by North Korea in eastern 
Deir el-Zour province. Following Assad's ouster, the new government agreed to 
give IAEA inspectors access to suspected former nuclear sites.

   The site in Deir el-Zour only became public knowledge after Israel launched 
airstrikes in 2007 that destroyed the facility. Syria later leveled the site 
and never responded fully to the IAEA's questions about it. Israel is believed 
to have its own undeclared atomic weapons program that makes it the only 
country in the Mideast with nuclear bombs.

   Israel neither confirms nor denies having atomic weapons.

   The IAEA took samples at the site in 2024 and reported last year that they 
contained uranium particles.

   The new Syrian authorities have also expressed an interest in developing a 
civilian nuclear energy program and said any nuclear material found in the 
country would remain in Syria's custody under international safeguards.

   The IAEA reported Tuesday that its inspectors visited the Deir el-Zour site 
on Aug. 29 "to monitor progress on the excavation work."

   "Based on observations made at the location, the Agency confirms that the 
cooling infrastructure which has now been uncovered is consistent with that of 
a nuclear reactor."

   In its confidential report, the IAEA said three locations were "functionally 
related" to the Deir el-Zour site. One was related to "conversion and/or fuel 
fabrication activities," another was for "temporary storage of construction 
material," and another was for the "temporary storage of construction materials 
being transferred to/from" the site, as well as for "planned reprocessing 
activities."

   During the visit to Syria, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi and a team of 
senior inspectors also visited a previously undeclared site in the country.

   Syria notified the agency of the site's existence in a July 17 letter and 
invited the IAEA "to cooperate with the Syrian authorities in the inspection 
and verification of the site and of any nuclear material to be potentially 
found."

   The IAEA said in its report that this new site contained "natural uranium 
metal in the form of fuel rods with cladding." The agency verified the material 
and confirmed "the presence of around 73 tonnes of natural uranium metal." The 
agency reported that "all of this nuclear material is currently subject to 
Agency containment and surveillance measures."