Syrian nuclear study not a bomb risk: ElBaradei

VIENNA (Reuters) - A bid by Syria for aid in planning a nuclear power plant poses no proliferation risk and a Western move to block the project could discredit the U.N. nuclear watchdog, its chief said in remarks released on Tuesday.

Major Western nations want the project shelved because Syria is being investigated by the watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), over U.S. intelligence asserting that it tried covertly to build a nuclear reactor designed to make plutonium for atomic bombs.

Their push has met resistance at an IAEA board of governors meeting from Russia, China and developing states who see no grounds for "politicizing" IAEA nuclear energy development aid without proof a country has violated non-proliferation rules.

An IAEA report last week said a Syrian building demolished in an Israeli air raid last year bore similarities to a nuclear reactor and uranium particles, possibly remnants of pre-enriched nuclear fuel, had been found in the area.

But it stressed that the findings were preliminary and more on-site checks, and Syrian documentation to prove its denials of covert nuclear activity, were needed to draw conclusions.

IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei said the intervention by Western powers against Syria had no legal basis and there was no way Syria could abuse the project -- a feasibility study for a nuclear power plant -- for military ends.

Barring IAEA aid to a country on the basis of unproven allegations "is not part of our lexicon, it's not part of our statute," he told a session of the agency's 35-nation board on Monday in remarks released by his office.

"INNOCUOUS" STUDY

The disputed $350,000 project is a "technical and economic feasibility and site selection" study for a nuclear power station in Syria. It would run from 2009 to 2011.

ElBaradei said all equipment that would be provided to Syria under IAEA auspices was "relevant to the project and...of an innocuous nature."

"None of it requires any safeguards," he added, referring to IAEA oversight meant to prevent diversions into nuclear bomb-making.

He warned if the Syria project were blocked over "political considerations," the IAEA would lose credibility with developing states seeking peaceful nuclear power and it would discourage cooperation by states under investigation.

Diplomats said a deal was being discussed under which a U.S.-led Western group would drop objections, enabling the project to be adopted by consensus, if the IAEA pledged to stagger it to ensure no equipment was introduced until the end.

"Some Western powers want ElBaradei to back down but he will not," said a senior diplomat familiar with the deliberations.

"If it works, a compromise would be noting all the West's reservations in the official summary of the meeting and let the project go forward, albeit with delayed equipment purchase. It would be a face-saver," he said.

The meeting recessed for much of Tuesday to allow negotiations. It was adjourned later without a result and will reconvene on Wednesday, when a decision is expected.

An IAEA official said the governors could easily revisit the Syria study next year if by then the inquiry found Damascus to be in "non-compliance" with safeguards rules, as North Korea and Iran were previously, which led to cut-offs of IAEA aid.

Tensions between ElBaradei and U.S. officials over their suggestions he is "soft" on alleged nuclear proliferators, something he denies, have simmered for years.

"The latest clash between ElBaradei and the Bush administration goes back to his insistence on maintaining the agency's independence, following due process and preventing the IAEA from becoming a kangaroo court," said a senior IAEA official who asked for anonymity due to political sensitivities.

(Editing by Mark Trevelyan)