IAEA says bombed Syrian building likely a nuclear reactor

Confidential report says reactor likely destroyed in 2007 raid by Israeli jets

The UN’s nuclear wathdog agency has concluded that a Syrian site bombed by Israeli jets in 2007 was “very likely” a nuclear reactor. The statement comes from a confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency that was obtained by the BBC. The IAEA has been investigating claims by the United States that Syria had been building a secret nuclear reactor with the help of North Korea. Since the bombing of the site in September 2007, Syria has maintained that it was an unused military facility that was under construction. But the report says the building was similar in size and shape to a nuclear reactor and that samples taken from the site indicate the presence of nuclear activities. As a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Syria has the obligation to notify the IAEA of any plans to construct a nuclear facility.

BBC News

tags:Syria