Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are scheduled to visit a Damascus atomic research reactor on Tuesday to check Syria's latest explanation for traces of uranium found on an earlier visit, according to Reuters. The United Nations nuclear watchdog said Syria's initial explanation is unconvincing and the inspectors will take more samples in a deepening probe.
In a report obtained by Reuters on Monday, the IAEA said Syria was also still blocking follow-up access to a desert site of what United States intelligence reports said was a nascent, North Korean-designed nuclear reactor geared to yield fuel for a nuclear weapon, before Israel bombed it in 2007. The agency has been checking whether there could be a link between the Damascus and Dair Alzour sites.