Nuclear Weapons: Terrorism and the Nonstate Actor

The threat of nuclear terrorism has become a fact of life in the nuclear age, brought home by the 9/11 attacks and the prospect of a nonstate actor getting hold of a deliverable nuke. While such a scenario indeed seems ominous, it is not as likely as many fear. The greater danger is the availability of highly enriched uranium (HEU), though increased security worldwide of HEU stocks is making it less likely that sufficient quantities will fall into the wrong hands. Still, eternal vigilance is required to mitigate the threat, however feasible the threat might be.