IAEA says Assad-era Syria reactor could make fissile material for weapons

Vienna,UPDATED: Sep 7, 2026 20:36 IST

The Atomic Energy Agency has said that a nuclear reactor built in Syria during the rule of ousted former president Bashar Assad was configured in a way that made it capable of producing fissile material for possible use in nuclear weapons. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said the reactor's "configuration" and "technical features" were "very efficient in the production of fissile material that could be directly used for the fabrication of nuclear weapons".

Grossi said the reactor was never declared to the agency and that its existence was always denied. "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 Monday at the start of a regular meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna.

Syria is believed to have run an extensive undeclared nuclear programme under Assad, including a reactor built by North Korea in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour. After Assad's ouster, the new Syrian 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 senior inspectors also visited another previously undeclared site.

Syria informed the IAEA about that site in a July 17 letter and invited the agency "to cooperate with the Syrian authorities in the inspection and verification of the site and of any nuclear material to be potentially found". In a confidential report sent to member states last Tuesday, the IAEA said the 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 inspectors had to "tear down walls" and pass through "very difficult and narrow passages" to reach the hidden material during their August visit. He said there were "boxes scattered all over the place" at the site. He added that "the important thing is that this material now is under safeguards" of the IAEA, and said the agency had installed cameras there.

Asked whether the nuclear material would remain in Syria or be removed, Grossi said this was "a matter that the Syrian government will have to decide". He said, "We are not requesting them to do this or to do that. For us what's important is that we know all the time where this (material) is until the last gram." Logan Mintz, 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 programme that further processes it into plutonium for a nuclear weapon". She added that once it is considered safe to move, the material could be transported in certified containers to a third country that can securely convert it into a more stable form, while any movement would require strong security against theft or sabotage.

The developments mark the latest findings by the IAEA in its inspection of Syria's past nuclear activities, with the agency saying hidden material has now been brought under safeguards as it continues to verify former sites in the country.

With PTI Inputs

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