IAEA says uranium traces found at 2nd Syria site

Traces of manmade uranium have been discovered at a second site in Syria and Iran has expanded the number of centrifuges enriching uranium to almost 5,000, according to reports released by the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Friday.

In its report on Syria, the International Atomic Energy Agency said its inspectors found uranium particles at a research reactor near Damascus that would not normally be expected there and had asked Syria to explain how they got there.

Inspectors had found "anthropogenic natural uranium particles in environmental samples taken in 2008 from the hot cells of the Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) facility in Damascus," the report said.

It was not the type of uranium that would normally be expected to be found at this kind of reactor, a senior official close to the IAEA said on condition of anonymity.

Syria had responded to the agency's "request for an explanation concerning the presence and origin of the anthropogenic natural uranium particles found at the MNSR," the report said.

The IAEA has been examining U.S. intelligence reports that Syria had almost built a North Korean-designed nuclear reactor meant to yield bomb-grade plutonium before Israel bombed it in 2007.

Inspectors had found anthropogenic natural uranium particles in environmental samples taken in 2008 from the hot cells of the Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) facility in Damascus

IAEA report

No progress

A senior IAEA official said that the atomic watchdog has not made any progress in its probe into the alleged illicit nuclear activities in Iran and Syria.

"On Iran, there has been very little progress," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "And for Syria, it's the same thing."

In a separate report, the U.N. watchdog said that Iran has expanded the number of centrifuges enriching uranium to almost 5,000 and this has made it harder for U.N. inspectors to keep track of the disputed nuclear program.

Friday's report also said Iran had increased its rate of production of low-enriched uranium (LEU) material, boosting its stockpile by 500 kg to 1,339 kg in the past six months.

Iran's improved efficiency in turning out potential nuclear fuel was sure to fan fears of the Islamic Republic nearing the ability make nuclear bombs, if it chose to do so.

David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security, a think tank that tracks proliferation issues globally, said Iran now had accumulated enough LEU to convert into high-enriched uranium sufficient for one atom bomb.

But this would require reconfiguring Iran's centrifuge network, miniaturizing HEU to fit on a warhead - technical steps that could take 1-2 years or more -- and would not escape notice of U.N. inspectors unless done at an undeclared location.

The U.N. Security Council has ordered Iran to suspend all enrichment related activities, until the IAEA has been able to verify the exact nature of Tehran's controversial nuclear program.

Western powers fear that Iran wants to build an atomic bomb, but Tehran insists it merely aims to produce civilian nuclear energy.