Syrian nuclear reactor could have been useful for weapons, IAEA chief says
- On Monday, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi confirmed the agency verified 73 tonnes of natural uranium at undeclared Syrian sites, determining the bombed Deir al-Zor facility was an "almost completed" nuclear reactor.
- The Assad-era government constructed the reactor with suspected North Korean assistance before Israeli airstrikes destroyed it in 2007; the facility was configured to be "very efficient in the production of fissile material" suitable for weapons.
- During August visits, inspectors were forced to "tear down walls" and navigate "very difficult and narrow passages" to locate hidden material, after which the IAEA secured the site by installing cameras and placing the uranium under official safeguards.
- Since the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, Syria's new authorities have cooperated with the IAEA to resolve outstanding safeguards issues, with Grossi describing the investigation as a "historic breakthrough" in clarifying past nuclear activities.
- The Syrian government must decide whether to keep or remove the verified nuclear material, which experts warn could be "diverted to a covert weapons program" if not safely managed by international authorities.
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This article was first published through Cedarnews.net. To follow up on more news and exclusive reports, they visited us on our website. The IAEA reported finding a nuclear fuel production site and 73 tons of natural uranium in Syria, including 55 tons of fuel rods and the rest in waste form.
Syria intended to acquire its own nuclear weapons, says IAEA chief Rafael Grossi. At least Damascus was building a reactor to produce relevant materials. The government of ousted Bashar al-Assad was very active in building a nuclear reactor, configuration and characteristics
연합뉴스-Yonhap News Agency
매일신문(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Oh Su-jin = The nuclear reactor built by ousted former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with North Korean support was constructed for the manufacture of nuclear weapons, and [complete]
The Syrian government under Bashar al-Assad was building a nuclear reactor designed to produce fissile material that could be used to make nuclear weapons, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today.
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