The Danger of Nuclear Terrorism

About

The topic of discussion will be the danger of nuclear terrorism, including such questions as: How serious is the danger that al Qaeda or other groups may acquire a nuclear weapon? What about the threat of a radiological weapon? What is being done about these risks, and what remains to be done?

Tom Bielefeld, a joint International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom research fellow and physicist by training, will lead the discussion.

A number of readings are available for this session, and discussion group participants are encouraged to read one or more ahead of time:

Matthew Bunn and Anthony Wier, "The Seven Myths of Nuclear Terrorism,"  Current History, April 2005.

Matthew Bunn, "Preventing a Nuclear 9/11," (.pdf) Issues in Science and Technology, Winter 2005.

The debate between Allison and Arkin, "Nuclear 9/11?" (.pdf) Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, September/October 2006.

Michael A. Levi and Henry C. Kelly, "Weapons of Mass Disruption," (.pdf)  Scientific American, November 2002.

Charles D. Ferguson, "Reducing the Threat of RDDs," (.pdf) IAEA Bulletin, 45/1, June 2003.

Steve Coll, "The Unthinkable," The New Yorker,  March 12, 2007

Please also note the very informative online tutorial provided by the Nuclear Threat Initiative: http://www.nti.org/h_learnmore/nuctutorial/index.html

Contact Erica Chenoweth or Erik Dahl with any questions.

Please join us!