Syria
Iskandariyah
This page is part of the Facilities Collection.
In its reports on the implementation of safeguards in Syria, the IAEA has repeatedly mentioned three locations “allegedly functionally related” to the destroyed reactor at Al-Kibar. 1 The Agency has not released the names or locations of these suspected facilities, but the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that they were located near the towns of Masyaf, Marj as-Sultan, and Iskandariyah. 2 Based only on the name, the Institute for Science and International Security identified the location of the last facility as being near the small town of Iskandariyah, north of Hama. 3
The facility’s purpose cannot be confirmed from open source literature. According to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, equipment from the site of the destroyed reactor at Al-Kibar – including possibly a computer or other machinery – was sent to Iskandariyah for storage. 4 The IAEA has requested access to locations where debris and any other equipment from the Al-Kibar site might be stored, but it has not specifically connected this request to the three allegedly functionally related facilities. 5 Syria has refused access to these sites, claiming that Al-Kibar and the three facilities are military and non-nuclear in nature. Therefore, the IAEA has been unable to come to any definitive conclusions about activities at these locations. 6
Glossary
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
- IAEA: Founded in 1957 and based in Vienna, Austria, the IAEA is an autonomous international organization in the United Nations system. The Agency’s mandate is the promotion of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, technical assistance in this area, and verification that nuclear materials and technology stay in peaceful use. Article III of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) requires non-nuclear weapon states party to the NPT to accept safeguards administered by the IAEA. The IAEA consists of three principal organs: the General Conference (of member states); the Board of Governors; and the Secretariat. For additional information, see the IAEA.
- Nuclear reactor
- Nuclear reactor: A vessel in which nuclear fission may be sustained and controlled in a chain nuclear reaction. The varieties are many, but all incorporate certain features, including: fissionable or fissile fuel; a moderating material (unless the reactor is operated on fast neutrons); a reflector to conserve escaping neutrons; provisions of removal of heat; measuring and controlling instruments; and protective devices.
Sources
- IAEA, “Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Syrian Arab Republic,” Report by the Director General to the Board of Governors, GOV/2008/60, 19 November 2008, www.iaea.org.
- P.A. Krueger, “Verdaechtige Gebaeude in Bester Wohnlage,” Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 23 February 2011, www.sueddeutsche.de.
- David Albright and Paul Brannan, “Satellite Image Shows Syrian Site Functionally Related to Al Kibar Reactor,” Institute for Science and International Security, 1 December 2010, http://isis-online.org.
- P.A. Krueger, “Verdaechtige Gebaeude in Bester Wohnlage,” Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 23 February 2011, www.sueddeutsche.de.
- IAEA, “Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Syrian Arab Republic,” Report by the Director General to the Board of Governors, GOV/2010/11, 18 February 2010, www.iaea.org.
- IAEA, “Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Syrian Arab Republic,” Report by the Director General to the Board of Governors, GOV/2011/30, 24 May 2011, www.iaea.org.