IAEA Reveals Syria Reactor, 73 Tons Uranium

14 sourcesUpdated Sep 8, 2026

The International Atomic Energy Agency said a secretly built reactor in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor province was nearly complete and configured to produce fissile material that could have been used directly in nuclear weapons. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said the reactor, which Israel destroyed in a 2007 airstrike, had never been declared and represented a serious proliferation concern, while cautioning that the former authorities’ intentions could not be formally determined. Inspectors also discovered and verified about 73 metric tons of natural uranium metal in fuel rods at a previously undeclared site after Syria’s post-Assad authorities invited the agency to investigate. The material is not directly weapons-usable, but experts said it could potentially be diverted for a covert plutonium-related program; decisions about securing or removing it rest with Syria’s current government. The IAEA said newly granted access and Syrian cooperation have helped clarify outstanding questions about the country’s past nuclear activities.

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IAEA nuclear verification efforts in Syria and Saudi Arabiastory 2 of 2 · since Sep 7, 2026

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Sep 7, 2026Sep 8, 2026

Sep 7, 2026Saudi Arabia agrees to grant the IAEA expanded nuclear inspections tied to US-Saudi civil nuclear cooperation, stopping short of signing the Additional Protocol.
Sep 8, 2026The IAEA confirms a secretly built Syrian reactor was configured to efficiently produce fissile material, with inspectors finding about 73 tonnes of undeclared natural uranium metal.