Nuclear Terrorism Danger
By Dr Arvind Kumar
In a recent collaborative report, released by the Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs Russian and U.S. experts have warned of the continued worldwide danger that terrorists might acquire and use a nuclear weapon. According to Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, a Belfer Center senior fellow: “If you look at the U.S. and Russia together, we own about 90 percent of the problem — more of the weapons, less of the nuclear materials. So it’s only right that these two countries share their expertise and look hard at ways to work together to lower the risks.” The first such expert analysis on nuclear terrorism by the two former Cold War rivals warns, “If current approaches toward eliminating the threat are not replaced with a sense of urgency and resolve, the question will become not if but when, and on what scale, the first act of nuclear terrorism occurs.”
While advising steps for increasing the defenses around nuclear warheads as well as stockpiles of fissile material that could be used to fuel an improvised nuclear bomb, the experts recommended reducing the number of sites housing weapon-usable material to the greatest extent possible. The report also urges heightened intelligence and law enforcement collaboration to detect and stop nuclear trafficking and to break up terrorist efforts. The report asserts that the Al-Qaeda should not be taken for granted for having lost interest in possessing a nuclear weapon after the demise of its leader Osama bin Laden. The report describes the years-long effort by al-Qaeda to obtain enough fissile material and know-how to build a rudimentary nuclear bomb, with explosive trials even being carried out in Afghanistan.
