Syria site held 73 tonnes of uranium, IAEA says

The International Atomic Energy Agency said inspectors found about 73 tonnes of natural uranium metal in Syria after the country's current authorities reported an undisclosed site dating back to ousted former leader Bashar al-Assad.

The UN nuclear watchdog gave the figure in a confidential report seen by AFP on Tuesday. It said the material comprised 55 tonnes of fuel rods, with the rest made up of uranium scrap and waste.

The IAEA said inspectors last month visited two sites, one in Deir Ezzor and a second location related to nuclear material identified by Syria.

“Based on observations made by the agency at the Deir Ezzor site, the agency confirms that the cooling infrastructure which has now been uncovered is consistent with that of a nuclear reactor,” the report said. The agency said it would keep monitoring the site as excavation work progresses.

The IAEA said that, based on information provided by Syria and verification work at several locations, it was able to establish that former Syrian authorities had failed to report nuclear material, facilities and activities.

Besides what it called the nuclear reactor under construction at Deir Ezzor, the agency listed a fuel fabrication plant, where nuclear fuel for the reactor was manufactured, and a location where nuclear fuel, uranium scrap and waste were stored.

The IAEA said no nuclear material or equipment was found at two other locations in Syria that inspectors visited on August 19. It said results from environmental samples taken there were still pending.

IAEA director general Rafael Grossi welcomed “Syria's transparency and cooperation with the agency.” The report said Syria had taken steps to remedy the situation by providing required nuclear material accounting reports and design information for the facilities.

Grossi said last month in Damascus that inspectors had found several tonnes of nuclear material at a site Damascus had reported to the agency in July. He praised what he called Damascus's “courageous decision” to report the undisclosed site.

The IAEA said the reactor under construction was a gas-cooled graphite moderated nuclear reactor. Grossi visited the Deir Ezzor site last month. The site has been shut for 18 years.

In 2018, Israel admitted carrying out a top-secret air raid against the site 11 years earlier. In 2008, less than a year after the strike, US officials accused Syria of seeking to build a secret nuclear reactor and acknowledged that Israel had destroyed it in the raid.

The UN atomic watchdog declared in 2011 that the Syrian site was “very likely” to have been a nuclear reactor. It said information provided to it suggested the reactor was being built with North Korean assistance.