Early Tests Show No Nuclear Evidence in Syria

International inspectors have so far found no evidence of materials indicating nuclear activity at a Syrian site destroyed by Israel last year and alleged by U.S. intelligence officials to have been a nearly operational nuclear reactor, the Associated Press reported Saturday (see GSN, Sept 19).

Syria permitted the International Atomic Energy Agency in June to visit the site, which had been razed by that time.  Inspectors took environmental samples, but early test results have shown no nuclear materials and no graphite, a key component of the type of plutonium production reactor that U.S. officials said Damascus was trying secretly to build.

The lack of evidence, and Syria’s refusal to allow any follow-up inspections, could mean the IAEA investigation will close soon, AP reported.

One nuclear proliferation expert, however, said the agency still had to finish a set of tests that were more sensitive.  David Albright, of the Institute for Science and International Security, suggested that the September 2007 Israeli air attack might have failed to penetrate the reactor’s outer walls sufficiently to disperse any enclosed graphite (George Jahn, Associated Press/Google News, Sept. 20).

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