UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — UN report finds Syria was building a nuclear reactor in Deir el-Zour
Q1. Under Article III of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, a non-nuclear-weapon State party accepts IAEA safeguards for which one exclusive purpose?
- A. Physical protection of nuclear installations and material against theft or sabotage by non-State actors
- B. Assessment of the radiological safety of civilian power reactors and of their emergency preparedness arrangements
- C. Verification that nuclear energy is not diverted from peaceful uses to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices
- D. Regulation of exports of enrichment and reprocessing technology to States outside the Treaty regime
Q2. Under Article III of the NPT, non-nuclear-weapon States party to the Treaty were required to commence negotiation of their safeguards agreements with the IAEA within how many days of the Treaty's original entry into force?
- A. 90 days
- B. 180 days
- C. 270 days
- D. 365 days
Q3. Of the roughly 73 tonnes of natural uranium metal that IAEA inspectors verified and placed under containment and surveillance in Syria, the largest single component consisted of which one of the following?
- A. Uranium ore concentrate, or 'yellowcake', awaiting conversion into uranium metal
- B. Uranium metal fuel rods fabricated for the reactor that was under construction
- C. Cylinders of uranium hexafluoride held in readiness for enrichment
- D. Scrap and waste material generated in the course of fuel fabrication
Q4. With reference to the IAEA's 2026 findings on Syria's past nuclear activities, consider the following:
1. A nuclear reactor that was under construction at Deir el-Zour
2. A plant for the fabrication of nuclear fuel
3. A commercial uranium enrichment plant at Marj as-Sultan, which produced all of the enriched uranium used in the Syrian programme
4. A site at which nuclear fuel was stored
Which of the above is/are correctly identified as facilities or installations that the former Syrian authorities failed to declare to the Agency?
- A nuclear reactor that was under construction at Deir el-Zour
- A plant for the fabrication of nuclear fuel
- A commercial uranium enrichment plant at Marj as-Sultan, which produced all of the enriched uranium used in the Syrian programme
- A site at which nuclear fuel was stored
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2, 3 and 4
- C. 1 and 4 only
- D. 1, 2 and 4
Q5. Consider the following statements comparing the IAEA's earlier assessment of the Dair Alzour site with what has since been established:
1. In 2011 the IAEA Director General concluded that it was 'very likely' that the building destroyed at the Dair Alzour site was a nuclear reactor that should have been declared to the Agency.
2. The building was destroyed in an air attack in September 2007, before the Agency had been able to verify its nature.
3. The reactor at the site was reported to have been built with the assistance of Iran, whose Marj as-Sultan plant supplied the fabricated fuel for it.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- In 2011 the IAEA Director General concluded that it was 'very likely' that the building destroyed at the Dair Alzour site was a nuclear reactor that should have been declared to the Agency.
- The building was destroyed in an air attack in September 2007, before the Agency had been able to verify its nature.
- The reactor at the site was reported to have been built with the assistance of Iran, whose Marj as-Sultan plant supplied the fabricated fuel for it.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q6. The IAEA's long-standing finding against Syria rested partly on its failure to provide the Agency with the required 'design information'. In safeguards practice, this term refers to which one of the following?
- A. Engineering blueprints of nuclear weapon components, whose transfer between States is barred by the Treaty
- B. The annual operating and maintenance schedule of a reactor, filed with the Agency after commissioning begins
- C. Technical specifications of dual-use equipment, notified to the Agency by supplier States in advance of export
- D. Particulars of a facility's layout, capacity and nuclear material flows, filed so that safeguards can be designed and applied to it
Q7. The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency is appointed by which one of the following?
- A. The General Conference, the plenary organ composed of all member States
- B. The Board of Governors, the organ that also approves safeguards agreements
- C. The UN Secretary-General, acting on the advice of the Security Council
- D. The UN General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of ECOSOC
Q8. Where the IAEA finds a non-nuclear-weapon State party to the NPT to be in non-compliance with its safeguards obligations, the matter may be taken forward for enforcement to which one of the following bodies?
- A. The First Committee of the UN General Assembly, which handles disarmament questions
- B. The Conference on Disarmament at Geneva, the standing multilateral negotiating forum
- C. The UN Security Council, which may follow up with diplomatic pressure or sanctions
- D. The Executive Council of the OPCW at The Hague, which handles treaty violation cases
Q9. Which one of the following is the principal feature that distinguishes the India-specific safeguards arrangement with the IAEA from the safeguards accepted by a non-nuclear-weapon State party to the NPT?
- A. It applies only to facilities that India voluntarily designates as civilian, India alone deciding which facilities are of military significance
- B. It applies to all source and special fissionable material in all peaceful nuclear activities carried out on Indian territory
- C. It obliges India to bring every newly constructed power reactor under safeguards from the date on which it is commissioned
- D. It requires India to place its heavy water plants and reprocessing facilities under safeguards without exception, including those serving strategic programmes
Q10. India's delegation to the annual General Conference of the IAEA at Vienna is headed by which one of the following?
- A. The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, through its Chairman, as the country's nuclear safety regulator
- B. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, through its Chairman and Managing Director
- C. The Ministry of External Affairs, through the head of its Disarmament and International Security Affairs Division
- D. The Atomic Energy Commission, through its Chairman, who is also Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy
Q11. The clandestine black-market network run by A.Q. Khan is documented to have transferred uranium enrichment technology or equipment to how many States?
- A. One
- B. Two
- C. Three
- D. Four
Q12. With reference to Syria's engagement with the IAEA following the change of government in Damascus, consider the following:
1. A visit by the IAEA Director General to Damascus in June 2025, after which inspectors obtained immediate and unrestricted access to a site relevant to clarifying past nuclear activities
2. A declaration by Syria in July 2026 of nuclear material at a location it had not previously declared
3. A visit by the IAEA Director General to the Deir el-Zour site in August 2026 to observe excavation work being carried out there
4. Syria's accession to the NPT for the first time, which brought it under an IAEA comprehensive safeguards agreement
Which of the above is/are correctly identified as steps in Syria's post-Assad cooperation with the Agency?
- A visit by the IAEA Director General to Damascus in June 2025, after which inspectors obtained immediate and unrestricted access to a site relevant to clarifying past nuclear activities
- A declaration by Syria in July 2026 of nuclear material at a location it had not previously declared
- A visit by the IAEA Director General to the Deir el-Zour site in August 2026 to observe excavation work being carried out there
- Syria's accession to the NPT for the first time, which brought it under an IAEA comprehensive safeguards agreement
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2, 3 and 4
- C. 1, 2 and 3
- D. 1, 3 and 4