US convinced of Syria's covert activity
25 April 2008
Syria built a reactor capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium with North Korean help, according to a briefing American security chiefs made to members of Congress.
A video dossier produced by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) explained its views on the basic design and history of a building destroyed by airstrike in September 2007.
The facility had stood not far from the Euphrates river in eastern Syria, the nearest town being Al Kibar. The exact location was described as a remote canyon, and officials added that a mound of earth had been erected to obscure views from a nearby road.
Next steps
A White House statement said the information was now being shared with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which oversees the global nuclear safeguards regime designed to ensure nuclear materials remain in exclusively peaceful use.
Syria did not declare any nuclear activity to the IAEA, and if the CIA theories are true, the country would be in gross violation of its obligations under the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The IAEA will be expected to analyse the CIA's full dossier before taking the conclusion of its board to the United Nations Security Council.
The White House appealed to Syria to "come clean to the world" on its activities, while reaffirming that it would continue to deal with the denuclearization of North Korea through the Six Parties Framework. "The USA is also committed to ensuring that North Korea does not further engage in proliferation activities," it concluded.
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The reactor was a gas-cooled graphite-moderated model capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium, but not power because it completely lacked steam turbine generator equipment. That type of reactor has not been built in any nation other that North Korea in the last 35 years, as the global nuclear power industry settled on light-water cooled designs which do not produce weapons-grade plutonium.
Spy satellites documented the construction process until August 2007, from which time "no further observable construction was necessary before the reactor could begin operations."
"We assessed that the reactor could have been complete and that start-up operations could have begun at any time, although weeks to months of testing were likely," said the narrator of the CIA video.
On the morning of 6 September 2007, fighter jets reportedly from Israel attacked and destroyed the facility before nuclear fuel had been loaded. Syrian authorities have always denied any covert nuclear activities.
Based on convincing satellite images, the CIA said Syria removed equipment from the wreckage of the building, demolished it in a controlled explosion and buried the last remains. Then a new building was erected on site and pipes originally meant for reactor coolant water were connected to an existing water treatment plant. This is "inconsistent with peaceful nuclear activity," noted the CIA.
North Korean link
The design of the Syrian reactor was similar to that of the Yongbyon unit known to be used for weapons plutonium production in North Korea. The CIA showed images revealing apparent design parallels between the facilities, including many taken on the ground during construction work in Syria showing what it called "key reactor components" in storage and installation. Images of the facility after the airstrike revealed heavy structures consistent with a nuclear reactor building.
The CIA's certainty was boosted further by photographs showing meetings of nuclear officials from both countries; records of visa applications from Yongbyon scientists to visit Syria; and evidence of North Korean procurements destined for Syria.
"We are convinced, based on a variety of information, that North Korea assisted Syria's covert nuclear activities, both before and after the reactor was destroyed." concluded the video.