Syria’s Nuclear Saga Needs a Clean Ending

Excerpt Your editorial is right: The best outcome for Syria’s leftover nuclear material is its complete removal, not mere safeguards (“Ending the Syrian Nuclear Saga,” Aug. 20). Placing tons of natural-uranium metal under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) oversight is progress, yet Syria should not pursue a civil nuclear program. Damascus has no technical need for the natural-uranium metal or related graphite it seeks to retain—its sole Chinese-supplied research reactor requires only small amounts of highly enriched uranium fuel, and Syria lacks the facilities to convert the material anyway. Amid ongoing instability, any new natural-uranium reactor would risk radioactive hazards or diversion of material into the wrong hands. Andrea Stricker is deputy director of FDD’s Nonproliferation Program and an FDD research fellow.