Other Names: Dayr al Hajar,[1] Dahr el Hajar, SAEC Research Centre
Location: 30km from Damascus[2]
Subordinate To: n/a
Size: n/a
Primary Function: n/a
Description: n/a
The Der Al-Hadjar Nuclear Research Center, constructed in the early 1990s, houses Syria's only research reactor, the Chinese-supplied Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR).[3] Research at the center includes nuclear physics and chemistry; use of radiation and radioisotopes in medicine, agriculture, biology, and geology; exploration of radioactive ores; management and procedures for the use of radioactive resources; protection from radiation; and the effects from radiation on humans and the environment.[4]

Sources:
[1] "Syria," Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advanced Conventional Munitions, 1 January Through 30 June 2002, CIA, April 2003, www.cia.gov.
[2] A. George, "Syria Takes Delivery Of Its Chinese Reactor," Nuclear Engineering International, v. 12/93, pp. 46-47, 1 December 1993; A world latitude/longitude database lists a "Dahr el Hajar" at 34.17 N and 36.0 E, which is about 140km North of Damascus; Another source lists a Syrian nuclear research center as being 140km away from Damascus ("Russian Nuclear Assistance to Syria: Scam or Scandal?" Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, Vol. 5, No. 1, January 2003, www.meib.org/ articles/ 0301_s1.htm.
[3] A. George, "Syria Takes Delivery Of Its Chinese Reactor," Nuclear Engineering International, v. 12/93, pp. 46-47, 1 December 1993.
[4] M.E. Eads, International Research Centers Directory, 11 ed., (1999), p. 326.

	Updated August 2003