19 March 2007
Counter-Nuclear Terrorism Efforts Grow in Size and Scope
U.S. helps train and offer alternative employment to weapons scientists
Washington -- The United States is working with more than 70 countries to secure and dispose of dangerous nuclear and radiological materials that could be used covertly by terrorists and state sponsors of terrorism in an attack or blackmail effort.
During a recent congressional hearing, Lieutenant General Michael Maples, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said al-Qaeda seeks to acquire nuclear weapons capability. Analysts do not believe they have achieved that goal yet, he said.
Threat analysts have considered the possibility that terrorists might put together a dirty bomb -- one dispersing radioactive materials with conventional explosives -- or that they might be able to build an improvised nuclear device using only a few kilotons of nuclear explosives.
“Prevention plays an important role in our nonproliferation strategy,” says William Tobey, who is the second-in-command at the Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration.
NNSA, in concert with several U.S. government departments, has stepped up counter-nuclear terrorism activities. “We have intensified our efforts to keep material and nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists and other networks and states that sponsor them,” says Tobey.
The strategy to detect and prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons involves:
• Preventing the acquisition of nuclear weapons or special related materials;
• Deterring the threat;
• Detecting, interdicting and disarming a device;
• Identifying the source that created, acquired or tried to detonate it; and
• Preparing for a catastrophic incident.
Steven Aoki, deputy under secretary of energy for counterterrorism, says that doing everything possible to keep nuclear materials from making their way to terrorists is the best means of prevention. That means eliminating vulnerable stockpiles of weapons-usable materials.
“Barriers to acquisition also provide an important element of deterrence,” according Aoki. “If a terrorist believes that it will be extremely risky, or impossible to acquire weapons or materials, they may seek other avenues of attack.”
Eliminating the possibility of nuclear acquisition involves:
• Strengthening physical security over weapons and weapons-usable materials;
• Assisting Russia in strengthening its security, control and accounting of nuclear weapons and materials;
• Helping friends and allies secure weapons-usable nuclear material around the world and strengthen security at civil nuclear facilities; and
• Taking steps to make it easier to interdict shipments of weapons-usable nuclear materials and related technologies.
NNSA has trained 350 officials from other countries on procedures to account for and control nuclear material and has trained more than 500 more every year since 2001 on physical protection measures for critical nuclear sites.
Additionally, the United States has helped remove more than 80 kilograms of highly enriched uranium from vulnerable sites to more secure ones.
The United States and Russia have been cooperating on a variety of projects to secure nuclear materials against theft or attack by terrorists especially where nuclear warheads are located. Deputy Energy Secretary Clay Sell told the Carnegie Moscow Center on March 14, for example, that security upgrades such as barriers and sensors have been installed at 61 Russian military sites and there are plans to install two dozen more in the next two years.
By 2008, efforts to improve nuclear security through the U.S.-Russian Bratislava Initiatives will be near fruition, including safety at Russian naval and Strategic Rocket Forces sites and buildings. Additionally, hundreds of metric tons of nuclear material will be secured. (See related fact sheet).
But Sell said both countries need to proceed with an old agreement that each would dispose of 34 metric tons of excess weapons-grade plutonium. So far, none has been eliminated.
ALTERNATIVE EMPLOYMENT FOR WEAPONS SCIENTISTS OFFERED
Another important initiative is providing alternative employment for scientists with nuclear expertise. Tobey told the United States Industry Coalition recently that even if it were possible to secure every kilogram of nuclear and radiological material, “the right kind of scientific expertise can be applied to generate more.”
To prevent that, a project is under way to retrain Russian nuclear computer scientists in software applications to serve the hospitality industry and telemedicine. Another joint project has Russian scientists developing alternative epilepsy therapies.
Preventing Russian scientists from being “recruited by rogue states and terrorist organizations remains a priority,” Tobey said. And now new engagement programs are under way to offer alternative employment to Libyan and Iraqi scientists with expertise in weapons of mass destruction.
For more information, see Arms Control and Non-Proliferation and Response to Terrorism.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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