Syria told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it built a missile facility at the site of a suspected nuclear reactor that was under construction when it was bombed by Israel in September 2007. It also denied a United Nations claim that it found an important material used for nuclear reactors.
Syrian nuclear director Ibrahim Othman did not reveal details of the building, which diplomats who were at the closed meeting said may have been a missile launching pad or control center.
Israel bombed the site where Syria was building a reactor that could produce plutonium for a nuclear weapon, according to American authorities.
A previous investigation at the site revealed evidence of graphite, a key element in the core of a nuclear reactor, according to a U.N. report issued last week. Othman categorically denied the assertion, saying that “it is not difficult to find graphite, if it was graphite ... They didn't find any."
Syria originally denied that the site was bombed and then said that the targeted building was a routine military post. However, an IAEA report last year stated that particles of man-made uranium were found at the site, and last week’s report stated more particles were discovered.
Syria claimed that the uranium was from Israeli bombs, but the IAEA rejected the allegation. "The isotopic and chemical composition and the morphology of the particles are all inconsistent with what would be expected from the use of uranium-based munitions,” investigators said.