Nuclear Terrorism
World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. AP photo.
RECENT ANALYSIS
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May 3, 2012
Senate and House Appropriators Increase Funding for Nuclear Terrorism Prevention Programs
Senate and House appropriators deserve credit for prioritizing core nuclear material security and nonproliferation programs in their versions of the FY 2013 Energy and Water bill, writes Kingston Reif in this new analysis. -
Apr 4, 2012
2012 Seoul Summit: Pivot to Global Nuclear Security
The 2012 Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, Korea brought together 58 heads of state and world leaders to agree on ways to prevent nuclear terrorism, and secure nuclear and radiological materials and facilities. It picked up from the first Washington Summit in 2010 and was supposed to be the watershed moment but was generally a review of past commitments. -
Mar 30, 2012
2012 Nuclear Security Summit: What It Was and Wasn't
The 2012 Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul could have been a watershed moment for nuclear security, but it was largely a review of past successes. Still, there were noteworthy accomplishments, like setting a more detailed vision for the safety and security of nuclear and radioactive materials. Moving forward, the 2014 summit must be drastically different and must set future goals, rather than dwelling on past accomplishments. - See more articles »
Non-Proliferation Funding Resource Center
Nuclear terrorism is one of the most serious threats to the security of the United States. The attacks of September 11, 2001 tragically demonstrated the reality of terrorism to the American people, but nearly six years later, serious efforts are still urgently needed to prevent a nuclear attack from occurring in the U.S.
Most experts agree that any nation would take an enormous risk in knowingly providing a nuclear weapon or nuclear materials to a terrorist organization because of the unpredictable consequences of cooperating with a renegade group. If a state-supplied nuclear weapon were ever used against a nuclear-armed state by terrorists, the resultant retaliation against the supplying state would be swift and massive.
If a state didn't knowingly provide a nuclear weapon, how then could terrorists get one?
One way would be to surreptitiously buy or steal an assembled nuclear weapon without the supplying nuclear state's official knowledge. For example, a terrorist group could obtain unaccounted "loose nukes" in Russia without the Duma or the Russian administration having any knowledge of the transaction.
A second way would be for terrorists to obtain enough weapons-grade material to assemble a weapon themselves. A possible source is Russia and the former Soviet Union, where sites with relatively minimal security provide abundant opportunities for terrorists. Assembling the device, however, would pose serious technical challenges to a terrorist group, although securing the services of a renegade nuclear scientist and setting up a makeshift laboratory are not impossibilities.
Efforts to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism include programs such as Cooperative Threat Reduction, commonly known as Nunn-Lugar, aimed at securing and dismantling vulnerable nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union; Global Threat Reduction Initiative, directed at securing and eliminating global high-risk nuclear and radiological materials and equipment; and Materials Protection Control and Accounting Program, geared towards improving security and accounting for highly enriched uranium (HEU) in Russia and the former Soviet Union. While these programs have demonstrated substantial progress in reducing the threat, current estimates conclude that there are still approximately 1,700 tons of HEU and around 500 tons of separated plutonium stockpiled globally (SIPRI Yearbook 2007).
A comprehensive approach is needed to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism. Top priorities should include:
- Securing existing nuclear weapons and materials
- Creating the position of "Nuclear Terrorism Czar" at the level of deputy national security advisor in order to coordinate nuclear nonproliferation efforts
- Disrupting terrorist finances
- Developing a contingency plan in case of attack
FACTSHEETS
Mar 20, 2012 Factsheet: 2012 Nuclear Security Summit Preview
Sep 19, 2011 Factsheet: 2011 UN General Assembly | Nuclear Safety-Security & Treaties
Sep 19, 2011 Factsheet: 2011 IAEA General Conference
Fact Sheet: 2010 Global Nuclear Security Summit
Jul 15, 2009 Factsheet on the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT)
ARTICLES & CONFERENCES
Apr 4, 2012 [Op-Ed] 2012 Seoul Summit: Pivot to Global Nuclear Security
Mar 30, 2012 [Op-Ed] 2012 Nuclear Security Summit: What It Was and Wasn't
Mar 22, 2012 [Conference] Nuclear Security and the Korean Peninsula | Seoul, Korea
Jan 11, 2012 [Paper] UNSCR 1540 & the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit
Jan 6, 2012 [Paper] Where Nuclear Safety and Security Meet
Dec 15, 2011 [Conference] Nuclear Safety and Security Workshop (Seoul)
Nov 22, 2011 [Paper] 2012 Nuclear Security Summit: Opportunities and Challenges
Nov 2, 2011 [Conference] Conference on the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit and Next Generation Nuclear Security
Sep 28, 2011 [Paper] 2012 Nuclear Security Summit: The Korean Twist
Sep 7, 2011 [Op-Ed] Nature and Malice: Confronting multiple hazards to nuclear power infrastructure
Aug 8, 2011 [Op-Ed] Time to Think Nuclear Safety-Security
Jun 26, 2011 [Working Paper] 2012 Nuclear Security Summit: The Korean Twist
Apr 11, 2011 Nuclear Security Summit 1 Year Anniversary
Mar 18, 2011 [Op-Ed] Fukushima and the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit
Feb 7, 2010 Letter to Congress to support nuclear security funding in FY11 next CR
Sep 9, 2010 [Op-Ed] Advancing Obama's Goal to Secure Nuclear Materials in Four Years
Apr 6, 2009 President Obama's April 2009 Prague Speech
Nov 14, 2008 Understanding and Preventing Nuclear Terrorism
May 12, 2008 Nuclear Terrorism is a Likely Event
RESOURCES - FULL TEXTS
Mar 27, 2012 2012 Nuclear Security Summit Communique
Mar 27, 2012 2012 Nuclear Security Summit National Achievements and Commitments
Sep 14, 2011 UN Study on the Implications of Fukushima (2011)
Apr 13, 2010 2010 Nuclear Security Summit Communique
Apr 13, 2010 2010 Nuclear Security Summit Work Plan
Apr 13, 2010 2010 Nuclear Security Summit National Commitments
Sep 29, 2009 Sep 24, 2009 UN Security Council Resolution 1887 (2009)
Sep 24, 2009 President Barack Obama's Remarks at the UNSC
Apr 6, 2009 President Barack Obama's 2009 Prague Speech
Apr 28, 2004 UN Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004)
ADDITIONAL READING
- Michael Levi, On Nuclear Terrorism, (Washington, D.C.: Council on Foreign Relations and Harvard University Press, November 2007).
- Matthew Bunn, Securing the Bomb 2007, (Washington, D.C.: Project on Managing the Atom, Harvard University, and Nuclear Threat Initiative, September 2007).
- Ashton Carter, Michael May, and William Perry, "The Day After: Action Following a Nuclear Blast in a US City," The Washington Quarterly 30:4 (Autumn 2007), pp. 19-32.
- Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism: Joint Statement (U.S. Department of State, June 12, 2007).
- Government Accountability Office, "Nuclear Security: Steps to Better Track and Detect Radioactive Materials," June 19, 2008.