The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, has confirmed that both the secret facility located in Syria, linked to the regime of the ousted president Bashar al Assad, and its reactor, recently discovered by the agency, were designed for the manufacture of nuclear weapons.
"I cannot judge the intentions, but it is clear that these activities, in the first place, were not declared, so they did not want the world to know what they were doing. And we know, given the configuration and technical characteristics of that type of reactor, that it is a very efficient reactor for the production of fissile material that could be used, employed directly, in the manufacture of nuclear weapons," explained the head of the IAEA.
In an appearance before the media in Vienna, the capital of Austria, Grossi pointed out that the inspection of the complex was an "emotional" moment for the agency's teams, who were "breaking down walls and going through narrow and difficult passages." "The important thing is that this material is now under safeguards," he said.
The head of the UN nuclear agency specified that, after locating the site, inspectors are proceeding to install surveillance cameras and inventory the seized material. However, he emphasized that it will be the Syrian transitional government, led by Ahmed al Shara, who must decide how to manage these resources.
"It is a question that the Syrian government will have to decide; we are not asking them to do this or that. The important thing is to know at all times where it is and what has happened. They will have to decide, but it is more of a political decision," he explained.
These revelations come after the IAEA confiscated up to 73 metric tons of uranium from hidden reserves in Syria, of which around 55 tons of fuel rods would be associated with a clandestine nuclear reactor project.
In 2007, Israel bombed and destroyed the site where a presumed nuclear reactor stood in Syrian territory to prevent the country from using it in the production of atomic weapons. The IAEA had already determined in a 2011 report that it was a secret reactor with similarities to a facility in North Korea. However, due to the obstacles from the Al Assad government and the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, the agency had not been able to verify on the ground the extent of those covert activities.