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that it was part of Rahman’s conspiracy to undermine destruction on a vast scale. The detonation of even a
the U.S. government. In this second trial, Nosair was small nuclear weapon in a densely populated area
convicted of Kahane’s murder. Nosair’s cousin, would probably kill tens of thousands of people and
Ibrahim el-Gabrowny, was also convicted of taking seriously wound even more. The radiation released
part in the conspiracy. immediately in a nuclear explosion and the radioac-
The issue of double jeopardy was not pertinent tive fallout of ash and debris that would probably
to Nosair’s second trial because he was charged with follow would also cause serious damage to exposed
the new crime of federal racketeering—prosecutors individuals. What is the likelihood that terrorists could
proved that he took part in a broader conspiracy obtain and use nuclear weapons? What are some of
against the United States. the ways that terrorists might choose to attack nuclear
targets in a highly developed country that made exten-
See also MEIR KAHANE; OMAR ABDEL RAHMAN; WORLD
TRADE CENTER BOMBING (1993) sive use of nuclear power plants? These are some of
the more important questions that any analysis of ter-
Further Reading rorism needs to address.
Cohen, Patricia. “Nosair Loses Suit Against Postal Cop
Who Shot Him.” Newsday, September 2, 1993. NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Grunwald, Michael, and T. R. Reid. “U.S. Tries to Link N.Y.,
Africa Bombs; Prosecutors Say bin Laden Aide Got Guns Nuclear weapons are devices that release energy stored
for Trade Center Plotter.” Washington Post, September in the atomic nucleus, the central, positively charged
24, 1998, A29. core of all atoms. The first nuclear weapons used ura-
Hurtado, Patricia. “Terror Sheik Gone for Life/Rahman, nium, a dense metal mined from the earth in many
9 Others Get Stiff Sentences in NYC Bomb Plot.” parts of the world, and plutonium, a human-made
Newsday, January 18, 1996, A5. metal produced by irradiating uranium in nuclear reac-
Kocieniewski, David. “Witness Recalls Kahane Slaying.” tors. The nuclei of these atoms can be made to fission,
Newsday, February 9, 1995, A7. or divide, liberating vast quantities of energy in the
Tyre, Peg, and Nadia Abou el-Magd. “Agent Ties Nosair to process. Each fission also releases a few neutrons. If
Death Plot.” Newsday, March 9, 1995, A19. there is a sufficiently large mass of uranium or pluto-
Usborne, David. “New York’s Terrorist Sheikh Jailed for nium present, called a “critical mass,” those extra neu-
Life.” The Independent (London), January 18, 1996, 11.
trons stimulate more nuclei to fission in an explosive
chain reaction in which energy released by from vast
numbers of fissioning nuclei is transformed into heat,
NOVEMBER 17. See REVOLUTIONARY radiation, and shock waves. We observe this vast
ORGANIZATION 17 NOVEMBER. release of energy as a nuclear explosion.
Fortunately, it is not easy to make a nuclear
weapon despite the fact that numerous books, articles,
NPA. See NEW PEOPLE’S ARMY. and Web sites purport to give information about how
it can be done. The most difficult part of making a
nuclear weapon involves obtaining the necessary fis-
sionable material, an isotope (or variety) of uranium
NSA. See NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY.
known as U-235 because the total number of protons
and neutrons in its nucleus is 235. It is very difficult
to separate the lighter variety, U-235 needed to make
NSC. See NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL. bombs, from the heavier variety, U-238. Bomb
builders who have obtained U-235 then can make a
bomb from it directly or can use it to build a nuclear
NUCLEAR TERRORISM reactor that uses neutrons to irradiate U-238 and make
plutonium-239 (Pu-239), another bomb material that
fissions readily. The bomb dropped on Hiroshima in
Employed by terrorists, a nuclear explosion and its August 1945 used U-235, and the one employed at
incendiary and blast effects would cause physical Nagasaki several days later used Pu-239.