In the News: DHS Cutting Support for Programs to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism

Over the past two years, the Department of Homeland Security has been dismantling programs to prevent nuclear terrorism “without rigorous review of potential security vulnerabilities.” These changes undermine “government-wide efforts aimed at countering terrorist attacks involving unconventional weapons, known as WMD.”  An LA Times report also found “Overall, more than 100 scientists and policy experts specializing in radiological and nuclear threats have been reassigned or left to take jobs unrelated to their expertise, The Times found, undermining the department’s ability to protect the nation from devastating attacks. Similar turmoil has unfolded among those who had specialized in countering such biological threats as airborne spores of anthrax.”