The Ultimate Terror

The possibility of terrorists’ gaining access to nuclear explosives has been studied off and on for years, with the conclusion usually being that it is more easily said than done. Indeed, federal authorities in this country have responded to about 100 nuclear-terrorist threats over the past 11 years. All proved to be hoaxes.

However, a group of safety experts warned in a report issued a few days ago that, although the likelihood of nuclear terrorism actually happening is still low, the danger is growing that terrorists will be able to get their hands on a nuclear weapon.

The International Task Force on the Prevention of Terrorism, a private group of scientists and engineers from Western nations, cited several reasons for its concern. One is the growing evidence of black or gray markets in weapons-grade nuclear fuel, plus the increase in plutonium that will be separated from spent reactor fuel in the next few years. Another is the proliferation of public information about nuclear weapons and the greater sophistication of terrorists, who often have the help of governments. Finally, security is frequently inadequate not only at nuclear-power plants but at some military facilities as well.

The most nightmarish possibility would be the theft of a nuclear weapon. (Italian Red Brigades gunmen who kidnaped an American general in Italy questioned him about the location of U.S. weapons in Europe.) Many such weapons have “permissive-action links”--built-in safeguards that would make it very difficult for terrorists to set off a stolen weapon. But the task force charged that many nuclear weapons still lack these safeguards.

The more likely scenarios, however, involve the infiltration of nuclear-power plants or university research reactors by terrorists who would sabotage the facility in order to cause a deadly radioactive release, or the theft of nuclear materials in transit by terrorists who might be capable of building a crude bomb.

The task force had a whole bundle of suggestions on how to minimize the dangers. They range from greater security around civilian nuclear facilities to the installation of permissive-action links on weapons not already having them. The experts also proposed greater international cooperation, especially between the United States and the Soviet Union, in efforts to detect and thwart would-be nuclear terrorists. Preliminary discussion of heightened cooperation already has occurred between U.S. and Soviet officials.

These are sensible suggestions for dealing with a potentially terrifying danger. A tight budget should not be allowed to get in the way of remedial action on a problem of this consequence.