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Thank you Mr Chairman.
New Zealand would like to thank the Director General for the report before us on implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Syrian Arab Republic. We would also like to thank Acting Deputy Director General Nackaerts and the Safeguards team for the technical briefing they provided on the report last week.
Mr Chairman
The Director General’s latest report again raises serious concerns about the lack of cooperation from Syria on important aspects of the Agency’s investigation into outstanding safeguards issues.
New Zealand notes that Syria is in a continuing dialogue with the Agency over the Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR). We note that Syria has provided a number of explanations for the particles of anthropogenic uranium of a type not included in its reported inventory at the site, and that Syria has now submitted inventory change reports for the newly declared material shown to the Agency during the PIV.
We see that the Agency has requested further discussions with Syria concerning inconsistencies and questions raised by the results of the analysis of samples taken during the March 2010 PIV at the MNSR. We also recall the reference in the report to information in publicly available scientific publications which indicates the past use of nuclear material in experiments and the possible presence of additional unreported nuclear material in Syria. In addition, New Zealand notes that the Agency has requested access to the Homs phosphoric acid purification plant and its associated buildings for the purpose of determining the extent of any uranium processing activities and nuclear material at the plant.
New Zealand is pleased to learn that during a meeting in Vienna on 3 September 2010 discussions were held between Syria and the Agency regarding these issues and agreement was reached on a plan of action for resolving the Agency’s questions and for addressing the Agency’s request for access to the plant at Homs. We hope that the requested information on the MNSR issues is provided promptly, and that the issues around the site are clarified in a timely manner. We look forward to the timely completion of the plan of action and to further reporting of the Director General on these issues.
But it is with deep concern, Mr Chairman, that we note the report’s conclusion that Syria has not cooperated with the Agency since June 2008 in connection with the unresolved issues related to the Dair Alzour site.
We note the Director General’s conclusion that, with the passage of time, some of the necessary information concerning the Dair Alzour site is further deteriorating or has been lost entirely, and that, after two years of investigations constrained by Syria’s lack of cooperation, it is critical that Syria positively engage with the Agency on these issues without further delay.
Mr Chairman
New Zealand calls on Syria to provide the Agency with the all information it needs regarding the Dair Alzour site. This includes information on the infrastructure observed at the site and the procurement efforts which Syria has stated were related to civilian non-nuclear activities. Finally, Syria must heed the Agency’s request for further access to the Dair Alzour site, the other three locations allegedly functionally related to it, and the sites where the debris from the facility was relocated.
New Zealand supports the Director General’s call to urge Syria to bring into force an Additional Protocol to its Safeguards Agreement which will facilitate the Agency’s work in verifying the correctness and completeness of Syria’s declarations.
We call on Syria to cooperate on the full range of issues in its nuclear file as soon as possible so that any outstanding issues can be resolved as completely and expeditiously as possible.
Finally Mr Chairman, given the concerns expressed, New Zealand supports keeping this item on the Board agenda until all of the Dair Alzour issues have been resolved.
Thank you Mr Chairman.
