VIENNA, May 24: A remote desert site in Syria that was bombed by Israeli planes in September 2007 was “very likely” a nuclear reactor, the UN atomic watchdog said on Tuesday.

“Based on all the information available to the agency and its technical evaluation of that information, the agency assesses that it is very likely that the building destroyed at the Dair Alzour site was a nuclear reactor which should have been declared to the agency,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a new restricted report.

It is the first time that the IAEA has officially made such a clear assessment since it began in 2008 investigating allegations of Syrian nuclear capabilities.

The United States in particular accuse Syria of building an undeclared reactor at Dair Alzour with North Korean help until the site was razed to the ground by Israeli planes.

But Damascus has persistently stonewalled the IAEA's investigation, granting inspector access to the site only once in June 2008 and not allowing any follow-up visits to either Dair Alzour or other possible related sites since then.

In a strongly-worded nine-page report, circulated to IAEA member states on Tuesday, the IAEA said features of the destroyed building were “comparable to those of gas cooled graphite moderated reactors”.

Before it was bombed, the configuration of the site's infrastructure — including its connections for cooling and treated water — “was able to support the operation of such a reactor,” the IAEA said.

And the layout of the site “was not consistent with Syria's claims regarding the purpose of the infrastructure,” the report said.

Syria has consistently denied the allegations, insisting Dair Alzour was a military and non-nuclear site and the IAEA therefore had no right to go there.

A number of other features of the site also pointed to its suitability for the construction and operation of a nuclear reactor, the IAEA said.

Analysis of samples taken from the site indicated “a connection to nuclear related activities”.

And the features of the destroyed building and the site “could not have served the purpose claimed by Syria”.

The IAEA said the circumstances relating to the Dair Alzour site were unique “in that the building on the site has been destroyed, the debris from the site has been cleared, several years have now passed, and Syria has not provided the necessary cooperation required by the agency”.

And it concluded: “Notwithstanding the loss of substantial information, after considering the initial allegations and Syria's responses thereto and considering all information available to the agency, the agency concludes that the destroyed building was very likely a nuclear reactor and should have been declared by Syria.”

The wording of the report was much tougher than in any of the IAEA's previous reports, and a senior international official familiar with the investigation said the sharper tone reflected the growing frustration with Damascus.

“Syria has not cooperated since June 2008,” the official said.

IAEA director general Yukiya Amano turned up the pressure by writing to Syria's foreign minister at the end of last year, the first time an IAEA chief has done so.

“But that didn't unblock the situation either,” the official said.

The IAEA had given Syria ample opportunity to engage, but to no effect so far.

It had, therefore, decided to publish its assessment that the building was likely a nuclear reactor, the official said.—AFP