IAEA: Syria Hid Nuclear Reactor, 73 Tons of Uranium
- On Tuesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency resolved outstanding questions regarding Syria's past nuclear program, confirming that former President Bashar Assad's government failed to report a nuclear reactor under construction, a fuel fabrication plant, and a storage site.
- The site in Deir Ezzor, shut for 18 years following an air raid, housed a gas-cooled graphite-moderated nuclear reactor that Israel admitted destroying in a 2018 top-secret operation.
- Inspectors visiting Syria in August discovered around 73 tonnes of natural uranium metal, comprising 55 tonnes of fuel rods and uranium scrap and waste, during verification work at several locations.
- IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi met Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani in Damascus on August 18, 2026, where Grossi praised the "courageous decision" to report the previously undisclosed infrastructure.
- While the Syrian file is resolved, the agency faces a separate "proliferation concern" regarding Iran, where a lack of access to verify uranium stocks has persisted since U.S. and Israeli attacks in June 2025.
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131 Articles
Syria has begun the process of eliminating the remnants of the clandestine nuclear program developed by the Assad regime. The secret project was abruptly halted by an Israeli bombing raid in 2007, but several dozen tons of nuclear material remain in the country. The new government in Damascus is collaborating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to completely eradicate this burdensome legacy.
IAEA report outlines Syrian nuclear activity
Syria was constructing a nuclear reactor in Deir el-Zour under the leadership of ousted former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, a UN report said on Tuesday.Inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last month visited several sites in Syria and carried out verification work that
The regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in 2024, has tried to build a nuclear reactor in Deir ez-Zor, a city in eastern Syria.
The Chairman of the Syrian Atomic Energy Commission confirmed that Syria was working to address the nuclear files associated with the era of the former regime in a serious and transparent manner. The report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which had welcomed Syria ' s cooperation in that area, reflected the level of openness it had committed itself to working with the Agency.
This article was originally published on Cedarnews.net. For more news and exclusive reports, visit our website. Syria building nuclear reactor: Syria was building a nuclear reactor in Deir el-Zour under Assad, UN reports. The initial report was published by AP News at 5:32. This news was published on the Cedarnews website. For more breaking news and exclusive reports, visit our official website.
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