Loose Nukes

Nuclear weapons or materials that are missing or in the possession of unauthorized persons. Since the beginning of the atomic age, one of the challenges facing nuclear powers has been safeguarding their nuclear weapons and the materials needed to produce [Page 435]them. Despite elaborate precautions, however, the threat of loose nukes ending up in the hands of rogue states or terrorist groups is a serious concern.

The threat of large-scale theft of nuclear materials increased significantly following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. During the Cold War, certain Soviet cities were chosen as sites for nuclear weapons production. These cities, closed to the outside world and focused solely on weapons production, were heavily subsidized by the state. For years they were some of the most prosperous areas in the Soviet Union.

With the demise of the USSR and the drying up of funds for nuclear weapons programs, most of these cities fell into dire poverty. In some cases, the desperate scientists who lived and worked in these cities turned to the illicit sale of nuclear materials to raise money. Although Russian authorities insist that their 30,000 nuclear warheads have remained under control at all times, much fissile material (radioactive elements used in nuclear weapons) from the former Soviet Union is unaccounted for.

Several former Soviet republics have had serious problems protecting stockpiles of highly enriched uranium and plutonium once used in nuclear weapons production. These materials were stored at more than 100 sites, some of which were almost completely unsecured by 1991. Upon the outbreak of the 1992 civil war in the former republic of Georgia, scientists armed with only sticks and rakes took turns guarding one facility. In 1997, Russian officials discovered that about 2 kg (4 to 5 lb) of highly enriched uranium had disappeared from another research center in the Georgian province of Abkhazia.

The incident in Abkhazia is so far the only recorded case of loose nukes, but there have been many more significant efforts to traffic in fissile material in the former Soviet Union. Most of those occurred in the early to mid-1990s. Since 1991, the United States has worked with Russia to safeguard its nuclear weapons and material. The United States has provided security equipment, helped to build storage facilities for fissile material, and paid to dismantle some 5,000 Soviet nuclear warheads. It has also tried to address the issue of weapons scientists being tempted by financial difficulties to sell nuclear materials, by establishing science and technology centers to provide civilian research opportunities. A 2001 study by the U.S. Department of Energy, however, found that these programs needed to be broadened in scope and more heavily funded.

Perhaps the greatest fear for U.S. officials is the possibility of a terrorist group obtaining enough nuclear material to build a “dirty bomb” or even a nuclear weapon. In the early 1990s, al-Qaeda supposedly searched the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan for fissile material. Because Kazakhstan has a substantial Muslim population, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden believed the country might be an ideal place to obtain loose nukes. In the end, the terrorist group failed to locate any fissile material. However, it apparently did not give up its search. On one occasion al-Qaeda operatives purchased what they were told was red mercury, supposedly a radioactive material suitable for weapons. It turned out that the material was nothing more than useless radioactive waste.

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