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                                                                                        Nuclear Terrorism———265


                wide area.  A typical device might use an explosive  reduce nuclear weapon stockpiles and negotiate
                charge attached to a container of radioactive material  strong treaty agreements that will make it more dif-
                that had been obtained either legally or illegally. Such  ficult for terrorists to obtain nuclear weapons, fis-
                devices, referred to as “dirty bombs,” would not require  sionable materials, and the technologies needed to
                a great deal of technical sophistication, and it is appar-  make them.
                ent that terrorists are able to use commercial or military
                                                                   See also WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
                explosives. They might also make improvised explo-
                sives from readily obtainable materials of the type used
                in the Oklahoma City attack.                       Further Reading
                  The magnitude of the damage inflicted by such an  Jenkins, Brian M. “Will  Terrorists Go Nuclear?  A
                attack would depend on the quantity and radioactive  Reappraisal.” In Harvey W. Kushner (Ed.), The Future of
                half-lives of the materials released, and local wind and  Terrorism. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1998, pp. 225-249.
                weather conditions. Most assessments suggest that the  “Nuclear  Arms Plants’ Security Lax.” Washington Post,
                effects of such an attack would be relatively small  January 23, 2002, A15.
                because the terrorists would not be able to obtain the  “Nuclear Reactors As Terrorist Targets.” New York Times,
                large quantities of long-lived radioactive materials  January 21, 2002, A14.
                needed to contaminate more than a few city blocks or  Serber, Robert, and Richard Rhodes, eds. The Los Alamos
                                                                     Primer: The First Lectures on How to Build an Atomic
                so. Nevertheless, it is easy to imagine that the explo-
                                                                     Bomb. Berkeley and Los  Angeles: University of
                sion of a radiological weaponin a densely populated
                                                                     California Press, 1992.
                area would cause panic and flight.
                                                                   “Suicidal Nuclear  Threat Is Seen at  Weapons Plants.”
                  Recent terrorist attacks and the declared inten-
                                                                     New York Times, January 23, 2002, A9.
                tions of groups such as Al Qaeda demonstrate that  U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. “Proli-
                nations must increase their vigilance over nuclear   feration of Weapons of Mass Destruction: Assessing the
                weapons, nuclear reactors, and related systems. They  Risks.” OTA-ISC-559. Washington, DC: Government
                will also have to come to terms with the need to     Printing Office, August 1993.
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