The Potential For Radiological Terrorism By Al-Qaeda And The Islamic State
Wednesday August 17, 2016
So-called dirty bombs would probably not produce large numbers of casualties but could yield big headlines, impose heavy costs, and terrorize more effectively than is possible with conventional explosive devices.
Concerns about nonconventional terrorism at the Rio Summer Olympics, and reports that persons involved in the November 2015 Islamic State (IS) attack in Paris had conducted video surveillance of a scientist employed at the Belgian Nuclear Research Center, have revived fears that terrorist groups may be interested in building a “dirty bomb” using radioactive materials — also referred to as a radiological weapon or an explosive radiological dispersal device (RDD).
Explosive RDDs are the type of radiological weapon most frequently mentioned in the media. They rely on an explosive charge to disperse radioactive materials to contaminate personnel and facilities in the vicinity of the blast and downwind, to disrupt lives and livelihoods, and to instill fear. Conversely, nonexplosive RDDs could involve the contamination of food, water, or air with radioactive material (for instance, via a building’s ventilation system). Some groups have reportedly even considered sabotaging or attacking nuclear power plants to create a radioactive cloud that would contaminate a large area. (Indeed, some media reports speculated that the aforementioned Belgian IS cell was contemplating such an attack.) This piece focuses on the threat posed by explosive RDDs.
BACKGROUND
Terrorists have long demonstrated an interest in radiological weapons. In 1995, Chechen separatists contacted a Russian TV station and threatened to set off an RDD using cesium-137 that had been buried in a Moscow park; a cache of radioactive material was subsequently recovered. Three years later, Chechen security forces recovered an RDD adjacent to a rail line near the capital, Grozny. And in 1999, one person was killed and another hospitalized with radiation sickness after trying to steal a container of radioactive material from an industrial facility in Grozny.
Al-Qaeda has likewise shown an interest in radiological — as well as chemical, biological, and nuclear — weapons. In 2002, an American convert to Islam, Jose Padilla, was arrested for plotting to build a radiological weapon after returning from an al-Qaeda training camp in Pakistan. In 2003, coalition forces in Afghanistan recovered plans for a dirty bomb; captured al-Qaed...