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Incidents involving nuclear material

Information reported to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) shows "a persistent problem with the illicit trafficking in nuclear and other radioactive materials, thefts, losses and other unauthorized activities". The IAEA Illicit Nuclear Trafficking Database notes 1,266 incidents reported by 99 countries over the last 12 years, including 18 incidents involving HEU or plutonium trafficking: There have been 18 incidents of theft or loss of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium confirmed by the IAEA. British academic Shaun Gregory alleged in 2009 that terrorists had attacked Pakistani nuclear facilities three times; twice in 2007 and once in 2008. However, the then Director General ISPR Athar Abbas said the claims were "factually incorrect", adding that the sites were "military facilities, not nuclear installations". In November 2007, burglars with unknown intentions infiltrated the Pelindaba nuclear research facility near Pretoria, South Afr...
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Scope

Nuclear terrorism could include: Acquiring or fabricating a nuclear weapon Fabricating a dirty bomb Attacking a nuclear reactor, e.g., by disrupting critical inputs (e.g. water supply) Attacking or taking over a nuclear-armed submarine, plane, or base. Nuclear terrorism, according to a 2011 report published by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, can be executed and distinguished via four pathways: The use of a nuclear weapon that has been stolen or purchased on the black market The use of a crude explosive device built by terrorists or by nuclear scientists who the terrorist organization has furtively recruited The use of an explosive device constructed by terrorists and their accomplices using their own fissile material The acquisition of fissile material from a nation-state. The creation of a device that may give information about the configuration of components needed for a nuclear weapon Former U.S. President Barack Obama called nuc...
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United States

While in office, President Barack Obama reviewed Homeland Security policy and concluded that "attacks using improvised nuclear devices ... pose a serious and increasing national security risk". In their presidential contest, President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry both agreed that the most serious danger facing the United States is the possibility that terrorists could obtain a nuclear bomb. Most nuclear-weapon analysts agree that "building such a device would pose few technological challenges to reasonably competent terrorists". The main barrier is acquiring highly enriched uranium. In 2004, Graham Allison, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense during the Clinton administration, wrote that “on the current path, a nuclear terrorist attack on America in the decade ahead is more likely than not". In 2004, Bruce Blair, president of the Center for Defense Information stated: "I wouldn't be at all surprised if nuclear weapons are used over the next 15...
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