| December 2008 - News |
| December 2008 |
|
IAEA: ranium traces not sufficient evidence of nuclear activity Uranium traces found at a Syrian site bombed by Israel were not sufficient evidence of undeclared nuclear activity, but Syria must be more transparent to help clarify the issue, the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog said on November 17. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Mohamed ElBaradei said the UN agency would not be able to reach a quick conclusion into its investigation of the al-Kibar site which the US has accused of housing a nuclear reactor. “There was uranium, but it does not mean there was a reactor,” ElBaradei said at a press conference in Dubai. Last May, the US alleged Syria, with North Korean assistance, was close to completing a plutonium-producing nuclear reactor before Israel destroyed the site in an air strike on September 6, 2007. Syria, a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, denies the allegations, claiming the site was a disused military building. ElBaradei said the uranium particles which had been discovered in test samples taken by IAEA scientists during a visit to the site last June were not highly enriched – the type needed to fuel atomic bombs. “We just need to know what is the source of this low-level, or man-made uranium,” he said. “It could have come in people’s clothes, for example. It could have come through some nuclear material stored somewhere. It could have come, as Syria says, through the bombings.” He added: “We need cooperation from Syria and Israel. I would still like to see more transparency from the Syrians. Now that we have showed the sampling to Syria, I hope they will allow the IAEA another visit to al-Kibar and to other sites in the country we would like to see.” Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mu’allem said on November 12 that Israeli missiles are the source of any traces of uranium discovered at al-Kibar. “The basis of American complaints and allegations, presented to the IAEA seven months after the Israeli raid, is that a reactor was under construction, not operating, so where did the uranium particles come from?” Mu’allem asked. “Why has nobody asked about the content and type of Israeli shells used in destroying this building, in light of the US and Israel’s use of uranium in their shells?” |