The proliferation of nuclear weapons or radiological dispersal devices to terrorist groups is perhaps the most frightening and potential threat to the United States. Nuclear materials, technologies and know how are more available today than once before. Small quantities of both fissile materials and highly radioactive materials, sufficient to manufacture a radiological device, are traded on the black market. Although terrorist groups are not suspected of actually acquiring such materials in large quantities, it is very difficult to know for sure. A nuclear detonation by a terrorist group would likely result in an unprecedented number of mass casualties. In contrast, a radiological attack would probably be less violent, but could significantly …show more content…
Even a device with a low yield, which is small by military standards, can topple large buildings and devastation in urban areas. A nuclear explosion would also create considerable fallout, contaminating large areas with radiation.
A nuclear terrorist attack might be carried out with an improvised nuclear device, which is a crude nuclear device built from the components of a stolen weapon or from scratch using material such as plutonium. A nuclear explosion is caused by an uncontrolled chain reaction that splits atoms to produce an intense wave of heat, air pressure, light and radiation followed by the release of radioactive particles. For a ground blast the radioactive particles are drawn up into the air in a mushroom cloud with dust and debris, producing fallout and exposure to people at great distances.
The outcome of a nuclear attack by terrorist would cause many fatalities, injuries, and infrastructure damage from the heat and blast of the explosion, and significant radiological consequences from both the initial nuclear radiation and the fallout that settles after the initial event. An electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear explosion could also disrupt telecommunications and …show more content…
A radiological weapon involves the dispersal of extremely high radioactive materials over a target area to make the area uninhabitable and to produce casualties. As a terrorist weapon, the performance of the radiological weapon is less important than the disruption and panic that the dispersal of small amounts of radioactive substances would cause. The psychological impact of those exposed would cause fear of an increased risk of cancer or genetic defects. A radiological dispersal would also require an expensive environmental cleanup, and would likely leave large areas unusable even if the level of radiation was small. As the former Director of Central Intelligence John Deutch pointed out, a terrorist radiological attack could cause damage to property and the environment, and cause social and political