(Reuters) Fredrik Dahl - Satellite images and other information indicate Syria was building a covert atomic reactor when Israel bombed the site in 2007, a former senior UN nuclear inspector said on Tuesday. Olli Heinonen, who stepped down as deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2010, said "satellite imagery, procurement, and infrastructure information tend to point (in the) direction that the destroyed building at Dair Alzour was, indeed, a nuclear reactor at an advanced state of construction." Western diplomats expect the IAEA to say in its next quarterly report that it believes the Syrian facility was a reactor under construction. The U.S. and its European allies are expected to seize on this finding to push for a decision at a June 6-10 IAEA meeting to send the file to the UN Security Council.
2011-05-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive