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UN warning on the danger of nuclear terrorism – “dirty bombs”

UN: Nuclear terrorism threat hasn’t diminished Bellingham Herald, September 28, 2012 UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. nuclear chief warned Friday that the threat of nuclear terrorism has not diminished, saying a key risk is that terrorists could detonate a so-called “dirty bomb” to contaminate a major city.

Yukio Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy
Agency, told a high-level meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General
Assembly that a dirty bomb – using conventional explosives and some
nuclear or radioactive material – wouldn’t be a full-fledged nuclear
bomb but it could lead to mass panic and serious economic disruption.

“We must therefore maintain the utmost vigilance in protecting nuclear
and other radioactive material and nuclear facilities,” he said.

Amano said more than 2,200 incidents have been registered on the
International Atomic Energy Agency’s “Illicit Trafficking Database”
since it was established in 1995…..Amano said urgent action is
needed to ratify an amendment to the U.N. Convention on the Physical
Protection of Nuclear Materials which was adopted in 2005 but hasn’t
entered into force.

The treaty covers only the physical protection of nuclear material in
international transport. The amendment would expand its coverage to
include the protection of nuclear material in domestic use, in storage
and transport, and the protection of nuclear facilities against acts
of sabotage….. The 400 incidents reported to the IAEA since 1995
involving smuggling of nuclear or radioactive material “suggest that
the risk to all of us is very real, and complacency is a luxury we
cannot afford,” he said.
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/09/28/2708935/un-nuclear-terrorism-threat-hasnt.html#storylink=cpy

September 29, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, safety