UPDATE - Atom watchdog sees greater nuke terrorism risk
Date: 02-Nov-01
Country: AUSTRIA
Author: Louis Charbonneau
ElBaradei, whose Vienna-based U.N. agency sets world standards for nuclear security, said the concern was no longer limited to the possibility of governments diverting nuclear materials into clandestine weapons programmes.
"Now we have been alerted to the potential of terrorists targeting nuclear facilities or using radioactive sources to incite panic, contaminate property and even cause injury or death among civilian populations," he said.
Experts from around the world have gathered at the IAEA's headquarters this week to discuss security. In the light of the September 11 attacks, they have added an extra session on Friday devoted solely to the issue of nuclear terrorism.
ElBaradei called on countries around the world to take a careful inventory of the security risks at their nuclear power plants and other facilities and to spend the money necessary to ensure that they can prevent or withstand terrorist attacks.
Although there are no confirmed cases of terrorists using a nuclear weapon, ElBaradei said there was concern at reports that some militant groups had attempted to acquire nuclear material. These included al Qaeda, the group run by Osama bin Laden and blamed by Washington for the attacks on the United States.
Since 1993, there have been 175 known cases of trafficking in nuclear material and 201 cases of trafficking in other radioactive sources, such as those used for medical or industrial purposes.
But only 18 of these cases have actually involved highly enriched uranium or plutonium, the material needed to produce an atomic bomb. The IAEA believes the quantities involved to be insufficient to construct a nuclear explosive device.
"However, any such materials in illicit commerce and conceivably accessible to terrorist groups is deeply troubling," ElBaradei said.
He said countries with nuclear weapons programmes should review the safety and security of their weapons, even though the technical complexity of operating sophisticated nuclear weapons should preclude misuse were terrorists to acquire one.
The nuclear weapon programmes in the five Nuclear Weapons States - China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States, as well any that may exist in India, Pakistan and Israel, the three countries outside the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) known to have nuclear programmes - are not subject to IAEA safeguards.
"Although I understand there is a high level of security for nuclear weapons, I hope that all of these countries are urgently reviewing the safety and security of their nuclear weapons," ElBaradei said.
"There have been two nuclear shocks to the world already - the Chernobyl accident and the IAEA's discovery of Iraq's clandestine nuclear weapons programme. It is vital we do all in our power to prevent a third."
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The IAEA estimates there has been a six-fold increase in nuclear material in peaceful programmes worldwide since 1970.
There are 438 nuclear power reactors around the world, 651 research reactors, of which 284 are in operation, and 250 fuel cycle plants, including uranium mills and plants that convert, enrich, store and re-process nuclear material.
Additionally, tens of thousands of radiation sources are used in medicine, industry, agriculture and research.
While the level of security at nuclear facilities is generally considered to be high, the IAEA believes the security of medical and industrial radiation sources is disturbingly weak in some countries.
"The controls on nuclear material and radioactive sources are uneven," said ElBaradei. "Security is as good as its weakest link and loose nuclear material in any country is a potential threat to the entire world."
While the IAEA is concerned about the threat of nuclear terrorism, ElBaradei said it would be easy to exaggerate the consequences of an attack on a nuclear plant.
"Nuclear facilities are perhaps the strongest, most robust industrial structures in the world," he said
