IAEA finds undeclared uranium at second Syria site

By Mark Heinrich

VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had found traces of processed uranium at a second spot in Syria and was checking for a link to particles retrieved from the site of Washington says was a covert atomic reactor.

The development, coupled with new information about Syrian procurement of large amounts of graphite and a compound used as a radiation shield, could heighten concern about possible undeclared nuclear activity in Syria assisted by North Korea.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has been examining U.S. intelligence reports that Syria had almost built a North Korean-designed, graphite reactor meant to yield plutonium for atom bomb fuel before Israel bombed it to rubble in 2007.

Syria denies hiding anything from non-proliferation monitors but a restricted IAEA report, obtained by Reuters, said Damascus was still withholding documentation and preventing access for inspectors needed to clarify the case.

The IAEA said in February inspectors had found enough traces of uranium in soil samples collected a year ago at the site, known as Dair Alzour, to constitute a "significant" find.

During the same factfinding visit, IAEA sleuths detected similar "manmade" uranium particles in test swipes done at a small research reactor in Damascus which the IAEA knew about and checks routinely once a year, a new IAEA report said.

These traces were not included in Syria's past declarations of nuclear inventory to the Vienna-based IAEA.

Friday's report said the "anthropogenic natural uranium particles" came from hot cells at the Miniature Neutron Source Reactor facility in Damascus.