Weapons of Mass Destruction

Nuclear Terrorism

Nuclear weapons pose the largest threat because of their immense power of destruction. The technical difficulty and high cost of mounting a nuclear weapons program is a substantial deterrent to a terrorist group unable to obtain, from an existing stockpile, the uranium or plutonium needed to manufacture a nuclear weapon, or unable to obtain an intact weapon from a nuclear weapons state such as Russia or the United States. Stockpiles of plutonium and uranium, not to mention nuclear weapons themselves, are heavily protected by the nations that possess them, but the very size of these stockpiles and their worldwide distribution are sources of concern.

A deteriorating Russian economy in the 1990s posed a special threat. Had Russian facilities not been adequately protected, and had scientists and security personnel not been adequately paid, it would only have been a matter of time before a subversive group succeeded in obtaining uranium or plutonium. The international community, led by the United States, provided substantial assistance to Russia to strengthen its protective systems for nuclear materials. The heightened sensitivity of the world's nuclear establishments following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon outside of Washington, D.C., has led to further improvements in materials and weapon security.

A second form of nuclear terrorism involves the use of radioactive materials combined with an explosive package to make radiological weapons, or “dirty bombs.” This capability is surely within the grasp of a well-organized group, but the effects of such a weapon would be far less extensive than those of a nuclear explosion. While the extent of damage caused by a dirty bomb depends upon the amount of radioactive substances dispersed and the time it takes the material to decay into a relatively [Page 624]harmless state, such a weapon would probably result in evacuation and clean-up efforts rather than mass casualties.

An attack on a nuclear power reactor is another version of a radiological weapon. Crashing a heavy aircraft or vehicle into a reactor or its spent-fuel storage area would release harmful radioactive material. Nations possessing nuclear reactors are now attempting to enhance their security to reduce the probability of successful attacks on these complex systems.

...