The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday that the Assad-era government in Syria was constructing a nuclear reactor configured to produce fissile material for possible use in nuclear weapons.
The "configuration" and "technical features" of the reactor under construction during the leadership of ousted former President Bashar Assad were "very efficient in the production of fissile material that could be directly used for the fabrication of nuclear weapons," IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said. "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, and this has been difficult work," he told reporters on the first day of a regular meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna.
Syria was believed to have operated an extensive undeclared nuclear program under Assad, including a reactor built by North Korea in eastern Deir el-Zour province. After Assad's ouster, the new government agreed to give IAEA inspectors access to suspected former nuclear sites. During a visit to Syria in August, inspectors confirmed that "the cooling infrastructure which has now been uncovered is consistent with that of a nuclear reactor." Grossi and a team of senior inspectors also visited a previously undeclared site.
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's confidential report, circulated to member states last Tuesday and seen by the Associated Press, said the 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."
Grossi said when inspectors visited in August they had to "tear down walls" and go through "very difficult and narrow passages" to reach the hidden nuclear material, which was in a site with "boxes scattered all over the place." He stressed that "the important thing is that this material now is under safeguards" of the IAEA, with cameras installed at the location.
Logan Mintz, a director for nuclear materials security at the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative, said natural uranium metal is not directly usable for a nuclear weapon, but it could be "diverted to a covert weapons program that further processes it into plutonium." She said once deemed safe to move, the material could be transported in certified containers to a third country for safe, secure disposition. "As with any transport of nuclear material, this movement would require robust security from theft or sabotage," she said.
Asked whether the material will remain in Syria or be removed, Grossi said that is "a matter that the Syrian government will have to decide." He added: "For us what's important is that we know all the time where this (material) is until the last gram."