North Koreans video taped at Syrian nuclear reactor

Sources familiar with the video say it also shows that the Syrian reactor core’s design is the same as that of the North Korean reactor at Yongbyon, including a virtually identical configuration and number of holes for fuel rods. It shows “remarkable resemblances inside and out to Yongbyon,” a US official said. A nuclear weapons specialist called the video “very, very damning.”

Syrian Ambassador Imad Moustapha on Wednesday angrily denounced the US and Israeli assertions. “If they show a video, remember that the US went to the UN Security Council and displayed evidence and images about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. I hope the American people will not be as gullible this time around,” he said.

Beginning on Thursday, intelligence officials will tell members of the House and Senate intelligence, armed services and foreign relations committees that the Syrian facility was not yet fully operational and that there was no uranium for the reactor and no indication of fuel capability, according to US officials and intelligence sources.

David Albright, president of Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) and a former UN weapons inspector, said the absence of such evidence warrants skepticism that the reactor was part of an active weapons programme. “The United States and Israel have not identified any Syrian plutonium separation facilities or nuclear weaponisation facilities,” he said.

US intelligence officials will also tell the lawmakers that Syria is not rebuilding a reactor at the Al Kibar site. “The successful engagement of North Korea in the six-party talks means that it was unlikely to have supplied Syria with such facilities or nuclear materials after the reactor site was destroyed,” Albright said.