Atomic expert questions US claim over Syrian 'reactor'

NUKEWARS

Assad denies building nuclear reactor
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denied in remarks published on Sunday that a site raided by Israel last year was a nuclear reactor under construction as charged by the United States. Last September's Israeli air strike "hit a military site under construction, not a nuclear site as Israel and America claimed," Assad told the Qatari daily Al-Watan in an interview. "Does it make sense that we would build a nuclear facility in the desert and not protect it with anti-aircraft defences?" he asked. "A nuclear site exposed to (spy) satellites, in the heart of Syria and in an open space? "We don't want a nuclear bomb even if Iran acquires one," added Assad, whose country is a close ally of Tehran, itself embroiled in a standoff with Washington over its nuclear activities. "Where would we use it?... War in the region will effectively remain conventional," he said. Assad underlined that he believed Iran "does not think differently" on this score. Iran has repeatedly rejected Western suspicions that its nuclear programme is cover for a drive to develop an atomic bomb. It says nuclear weapons are un-Islamic and insists the programme is aimed solely at generating power for a growing population once fossil fuels run out. The United States has accused Syria of building a secret atomic reactor with North Korean help. On Thursday, US national security officials briefed US congressmen, presenting intelligence they said showed Syria had been building a secret nuclear reactor for military ends. They said the plant was being built with the help of North Korea, until its destruction by Israel in an air raid on September 6. The International Atomic Energy Agency launched an investigation into the US accusations on Friday but chided both Israel and the United States for their handling of the affair. Syria promised its full cooperation.

by Staff Writers
Vienna (AFP) April 26, 2008
A nuclear physicist close to the United Nations atomic watchdog cast doubt Saturday on the veracity of US intelligence which claimed that Syria had been building a secret atomic reactor.

"When you look at the (US intelligence services) pictures, they show only raw construction," an expert close to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told AFP on condition on anonymity.

"It was just the shell of a site, and the walls did not look like the ones needed for a plutonium reactor."

Walls of a plutonium reactor "need a lot of piping, there was nothing like that on the pictures," he added.

On Thursday, US national security officials briefed US lawmakers, presenting intelligence they said showed Syria had been building a secret nuclear reactor with a military purpose.

They said it was being built with the help of North Korea, until the facility was destroyed by Israel in a bombing attack on September 6, 2007 -- prompting the IAEA to launch a probe on Friday.

The US evidence comprised photographs taken inside the reactor showing construction of the shield for the reactor core, and control rods and refuelling ports on top of the reactor.

Officials said the reactor and the building that housed it were similar in design to the North Korean reactor at Yongbyon, which produces plutonium.

Damascus dismissed the claims as "ridiculous".

The expert told AFP that it was difficult to ascertain whether the photos proved that a facility was being built along the lines of the Yongbyon reactor.

"When you look at the pictures, you don't know if the basement's structure is a platform a few centimetres (inches) thick or if it's five metres (yards) deep," he said.

He also noted that the basement had not been destroyed, "so it does not seem that there were things hidden there".

If Syria had wanted to build a reactor on the site, it would have done things properly, "not like that," he added.

"For a plutonium reactor, you need to have a processing plant, but this site was in the middle of nowhere, far away and no roads built to drive to it," he said.

Furthermore, "it's strange to say Syria wanted to copy the Yongbyon reactor. It's 40 years old. We have much better technology than that and I don't think Syrians are so stupid," the expert argued.

According to a senior US intelligence official, the reactor was destroyed as it was nearing completion, although it had not been loaded with nuclear fuel.

Israel had felt that this reactor posed such a threat that it bombed it, a move which IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei deplored on Friday, because it prevented the agency's inspectors from investigating fully the allegations.

The expert rejected US claims that the reactor was ready to go into operation within "weeks and possibly months".

"If it was meant to be a reactor, it would have taken at least another two years to become operational," he said.

And "once you have a finished plutonium reactor, then it takes a year of processing to get fissile material before starting the process of building a bomb".

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

NUKEWARS

US accuses Syria of building secret reactor with NKorea's help

Washington (AFP) April 25, 2008
The United States has accused Syria of building a secret nuclear reactor with North Korea's help, charging that the facility had a military purpose until Israel destroyed it in a September raid.

ROCKET SCIENCE Rocket Mystery Explained With New Imaging Technique NASA Awards Contract For Engine Technology Development SpaceX Conducts First Three-Engine Firing Of Falcon 9 Rocket European Space Truck Jules Verne In Parking Orbit	LAUNCH PAD Arianespace plans bid to launch Galileo satellites: CEO NASA Awards Launch Services Contract To SpaceX Prisma Satellites To Be Launched In June 2009 Ariane 5 rocket lifts Brazilian, Vietnamese satellites into space
SHUTTLE NEWS NASA faces long odds in shuttle schedule Hope Takes Flight On Shuttle Discovery NASA reschedules shuttle launch date Shuttle Endeavour returns after record-setting mission to ISS	STATION NEWS Expedition 16's Whitson Hands Over Command Of Station NASA Awards Space Station Water Contract To Hamilton Sundstrand Russia Needs Billions More To Complete It's ISS Segment Russia to call for extending ISS use
SPACE TRAVEL Explorers Flight Launch Set For June Japan to send cherry seeds into space Space station crew lucky to survive re-entry: agency Stephen Hawking urges new era of space conquest	DRAGON SPACE China Launches New Space Tracking Ship To Serve Shenzhou VII Three Rocketeers For Shenzhou China's space development can pose military threat: Japan Cassini Tastes Organic Material At Saturn's Geyser Moon
ROBO SPACE Canada rejects sale of space firm to US defense firm The Future Of Robotic Warfare Part Two Robot anaesthetist developed in France: doctor Surgeons use robots during heart surgery	MARSDAILY More Trouble For Opportunity's Robotic Arm Spirit Still Sitting Pretty For This Time Of Year Driving on Mars Is Hard Mars Radar Opens Up A Planet's Third Dimension

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement