Assad regime built reactor capable of producing material for nuclear weapons, IAEA says

The reactor Syria’s ousted Assad regime was building had a configuration and technical features that could have produced fissile material directly usable in nuclear weapons, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said Monday. He stressed that the facility was never declared and that Syrian authorities always denied its existence, while cautioning that intentions cannot be judged.

“Of course, that was never declared, that was always denied, so, and again, intentions cannot be judged, but that was a very serious proliferation concern that we had,” Grossi told reporters at the opening of an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna.

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Of course, that was never declared, that was always denied, so, and again, intentions cannot be judged, but that was a very serious proliferation concern that we had.

Syria was believed to have maintained an undeclared nuclear program under Bashar Assad, including a reactor built by North Korea in eastern Deir el-Zour province. After Assad’s ouster, Syria’s new government allowed IAEA inspectors access to suspected former nuclear sites. During an August visit, inspectors confirmed that newly uncovered cooling infrastructure matched that of a nuclear reactor.

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The important thing is that this material now is under safeguards.

Inspectors also visited a previously undeclared site that Syria reported to the agency in a July 17 letter. An IAEA report circulated to member states said the site contained natural uranium metal in fuel rods with cladding. The agency verified about 73 tonnes of the material. Grossi said inspectors had to tear down walls and pass through difficult, narrow passages to reach it, with boxes scattered throughout the site.

“The important thing is that this material now is under safeguards,” Grossi said. The agency installed cameras at the location, and he said its priority was to know where the material remained “until the last gram.” Logan Mintz of the Nuclear Threat Initiative said natural uranium metal cannot directly fuel a nuclear weapon, but could be diverted to a covert program for further processing into plutonium. Syria’s government will decide whether the material remains in the country or is removed.

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until the last gram