From Homeland Security NewsWire:
Graham Allison, Harvard Kennedy School of GovernmentWe are in an "era of terror": individuals, small groups can kill on a mass scale
Published 9 September 2011
Graham Allison, the director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, discusses nuclear terrorism in a post 9/11 world, the progress the United States has made at home and abroad in securing loose nuclear weapons and materials, the need to strengthen security measures protecting low-grade nuclear stockpiles at hospitals, and the dangerous threat that nuclear terrorism still poses
Homeland Security NewsWire: In the past ten years, the United States has made a tremendous effort to secure loose nuclear weapons and materials not only in the United States, but abroad. How effective have these measures been and what challenges still remain?
Graham Allison: The United States has taken the lead in investing more than $10 billion and countless hours in securing and eliminating nuclear weapons and material worldwide. The good news is that as a result of these efforts thousands of weapons and material that could have produced thousands more are better secured today than they were a decade ago. The bad news is that the global stockpile of weapons-usable material is more than four million pounds today, too much of which is still vulnerable to seizure. The bottom line is much work remains to be done.
HSNW: Hospitals are relatively unsecure facilities and surprisingly contain large quantities of low-grade radioactive material for various medical equipment that could be used in a dirty bomb. What steps has the federal government and hospitals taken to secure these facilities?
GA: Part of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) is securing potentially vulnerable radiological material, including in hospitals around the United States. Since May 2004, GTRI removed enough at-risk domestic radiological sources for more than 900 dirty bombs. In addition, the NNSA works with hospitals to provide voluntary security upgrades. Local governments have also taken the initiative to reach out to hospitals with potential dirty bomb ingredients to increase security. These programs, however, need increased funding and priority.
HSNW: Ten years into the war on terrorism, it appears that the United States military has undermined al Qaeda’s capability to conduct large-scale attacks. Given the decline of al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations’ operational capacities, does nuclear-terrorism remain as one of the most pressing threats facing the United States?
GA: In a word: yes. The demise of al Qaeda as a global organization that raises money, runs training camps, and directs major terrorist attacks is an achievable objective. Concluding from this fact that its individual members or affiliates therefore do not have the capability to conduct a catastrophic attack on the American homeland is not only incorrect, but dangerous. Such claims fundamentally misunderstand the reality of what must be recognized today and for the foreseeable future as an “era of terror.” We now live in a world in which the widespread dissemination of science and technology has empowered individual maniacs or small groups to indiscriminately kill on a mass scale.
HSNW: Looking ahead, what do you foresee as the main challenges for nuclear security over the next decade?
GA: With all the urgent issues pressing upon world leaders today, ranging from financial reform to climate disruption, maintaining the momentum of the global nuclear summit and keeping nuclear security on top of the international agenda is no easy task. To address the array of nuclear threats and specifically the specter of a nuclear bomb exploding in one of our cities with consequences that will fundamentally change our lives and our world, the supreme requirement is for meaningful, sustained international cooperation.
Graham Allison, Harvard Kennedy School of GovernmentWe are in an "era of terror": individuals, small groups can kill on a mass scale
Published 9 September 2011
Graham Allison, the director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, discusses nuclear terrorism in a post 9/11 world, the progress the United States has made at home and abroad in securing loose nuclear weapons and materials, the need to strengthen security measures protecting low-grade nuclear stockpiles at hospitals, and the dangerous threat that nuclear terrorism still poses
Homeland Security NewsWire: In the past ten years, the United States has made a tremendous effort to secure loose nuclear weapons and materials not only in the United States, but abroad. How effective have these measures been and what challenges still remain?
Graham Allison: The United States has taken the lead in investing more than $10 billion and countless hours in securing and eliminating nuclear weapons and material worldwide. The good news is that as a result of these efforts thousands of weapons and material that could have produced thousands more are better secured today than they were a decade ago. The bad news is that the global stockpile of weapons-usable material is more than four million pounds today, too much of which is still vulnerable to seizure. The bottom line is much work remains to be done.
HSNW: Hospitals are relatively unsecure facilities and surprisingly contain large quantities of low-grade radioactive material for various medical equipment that could be used in a dirty bomb. What steps has the federal government and hospitals taken to secure these facilities?
GA: Part of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) is securing potentially vulnerable radiological material, including in hospitals around the United States. Since May 2004, GTRI removed enough at-risk domestic radiological sources for more than 900 dirty bombs. In addition, the NNSA works with hospitals to provide voluntary security upgrades. Local governments have also taken the initiative to reach out to hospitals with potential dirty bomb ingredients to increase security. These programs, however, need increased funding and priority.
HSNW: Ten years into the war on terrorism, it appears that the United States military has undermined al Qaeda’s capability to conduct large-scale attacks. Given the decline of al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations’ operational capacities, does nuclear-terrorism remain as one of the most pressing threats facing the United States?
GA: In a word: yes. The demise of al Qaeda as a global organization that raises money, runs training camps, and directs major terrorist attacks is an achievable objective. Concluding from this fact that its individual members or affiliates therefore do not have the capability to conduct a catastrophic attack on the American homeland is not only incorrect, but dangerous. Such claims fundamentally misunderstand the reality of what must be recognized today and for the foreseeable future as an “era of terror.” We now live in a world in which the widespread dissemination of science and technology has empowered individual maniacs or small groups to indiscriminately kill on a mass scale.
HSNW: Looking ahead, what do you foresee as the main challenges for nuclear security over the next decade?
GA: With all the urgent issues pressing upon world leaders today, ranging from financial reform to climate disruption, maintaining the momentum of the global nuclear summit and keeping nuclear security on top of the international agenda is no easy task. To address the array of nuclear threats and specifically the specter of a nuclear bomb exploding in one of our cities with consequences that will fundamentally change our lives and our world, the supreme requirement is for meaningful, sustained international cooperation.
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