International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors were in Syria yesterday to investigate the origin of particles found from an undeclared uranium supply at a Damascus research reactor, Agence France-Presse reported see GSN, Nov. 16).
(Nov. 18) -
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, shown last month, said his agency planned yesterday to investigate the origin of uranium traces at a Syrian nucelar reactor site in Damascus (Atta Kenare/Getty Images).
Syria indicated earlier this month that the traces at the site, which is routinely inspected by IAEA officials, might have originated from indigenous uranium yellowcake and a previously undeclared supply of indigenously produced uranyl nitrate, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Monday in his agency's latest safeguards report for the country.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog, though, found that samples collected from the site "do not support Syria's earlier explanation of the origin and presence of the particles," according to the report. Samples were collected in August 2008 and July of this year, according to AFP (Agence France-Presse I/Spacewar.com, Nov. 17).
"The agency announced its intention to carry out an inspection at the [Damascus reactor] on Nov. 17, 2009 for the purposes of taking samples of the yellowcake and the uranyl nitrate and taking environmental samples at the locations where the materials are stored and where they were used," ElBaradei's report states.
"The agency also requested that Syria provide information concerning the yellowcake, the uranyl nitrate and any other uranium-containing materials which may have been the source of the anthropogenic natural uranium particles," ElBaradei said in the document (Diane Barnes, Global Security Newswire, Nov. 18).
Syria's atomic activities are already under scrutiny following the 2007 Israeli airstrike on an alleged nuclear reactor facility said to be built with aid from North Korea. Damascus has denied that the site was nuclear in nature.
However, tiny amounts of uranium have also been found at that location, and the nuclear agency wants to know if there is any connection to the reactor in Damascus (Agence France-Presse I).
The U.S. State Department yesterday urged Syria to provide a "credible explanation" for the uranium particles at the research reactor, AFP reported.
"We want them to open up what the IAEA is asking them to open up in terms of access to sites and access to information," said spokesman Ian Kelly.
The official said the international response to uncertainties over the uranium traces would "depend on [Syria's] response" (Agence France-Presse II/Spacewar.com, Nov. 17).