Syria
Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Syria
This page is part of the Facilities Collection.
Syria possesses extensive phosphate rock reserves, estimated at 1,700 million tons, of which the country exploits about 3.5 million tons per year. 1 2 The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources oversees Syria’s three operating phosphate mining sites at Charkiet, Sawwaneh, and Khneifiss. 3
Syria explored a program to extract uranium from phosphate with IAEA assistance at the phosphoric acid pilot plant. 4 Although ostensibly for the civilian use of purifying phosphoric acid for use in fertilizers, the by-product of this process was uranium yellowcake. 5 In 2011, Syria acknowledged carrying out experiments with domestically separated uranium after the IAEA found processed natural uranium particles at the SRR-1 Miniature Neutron Source Reactor. 6
Glossary
- Uranium
- Uranium is a metal with the atomic number 92. See entries for enriched uranium, low enriched uranium, and highly enriched uranium.
- 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.
Sources
- “Arab Republic of Syria,” The Middle East Annual Review 1975-6 (Essex, England: The Middle East Review Company Limited, 1975-1976), p. 259.
- Jamal Asfahani, “Phosphate Prospecting Using Natural Gamma Ray Well Logging in the Khneifiss Mine, Syria,” Exploration and Mining Geology, Vol. 11, Nos. 1-4, 2002, p. 62.
- “Fertilizer International: Commercial Phosphate Rock from Syria,” Chemical Business Newsbase, 9 August 2001, www.lexisnexis.com.
- “Uranium Recovery from Phosphoric Acid,” Project Number SYR/3/003, IAEA-TC Project Datasheet, www-tc.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.
- 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.