The arrest last week in Bangkok of a Thai national with 66 pounds of radioactive cesium-137, possibly intended for use in militant attacks, has officials worried at the UN organization that monitors nuclear programs. Experts fear the seizure of the nuclear isotope — which US customs officials believe originated in Russia — signals a growing demand among terror organizations to create a so-called “dirty-bomb.”
Thai officials say the man suspected of smuggling the cesium confessed to smuggling the deadly material, a common radioactive substance, from neighboring Laos. “It could be deadly if it got into the hands of terrorists,” says Deputy National Police Chief Sombat Amornvivat. “We have heard reports that terrorists were planning attacks on embassies in Thailand.”
Dirty bombs are made by spiking a conventional explosive with low-level radioactive material obtained from the black market or even stolen from hospitals, dumps or factories. These weapons don’t have same explosive force of a nuclear weapon, but the psychological toll and contamination they wreak would be considerable, said officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“The willingness of terrorists to commit suicide to achieve their evil aims makes the nuclear-terrorism threat far more likely than it was before Sept. 11,” Mohammed El-Baradei, director-general of IAEA, warned an international group of nuclear analysts at recent conference in Vienna, Austria.
The UN agency is seeking an additional $30 million to $50 million annually to expand its counterterrorism programs.
The IAEA is the nuclear watchdog agency charged with regulating the safety and security of nuclear power plants and other nonmilitary atomic sites. It has 132 members, 2,200 employees and an annual budget of $330 million.
Nuclear power plants vary in quality around the world, the agency said, but most are robust enough to withstand natural disaster and — especially in the industrialized world — acts of sabotage or terrorism. “Now we are seeing terrorists that are not afraid to lose their own lives,” said Gustavo R. Zlauvinen at the Vienna conference. Gustavo, who serves as the IAEA representative in New York, added that it would be difficult to protect against attack by an airplane, as occurred in the Sept. 11 strikes in New York and Washington.
In a world filled with uncountable — and often unpoliced — radiation devices, IAEA officials warn that terrorists have a variety of options for obtaining radioactive material.
Radioactive material can be found in hospital X-ray machines; it also is used in cancer treatment. Commercial food-processing plants use radiation to kill bacteria before canning or freezing. Used fuel rods and nuclear waste are sitting in dumps that may not be guarded. In addition, an unknown amount of research and military equipment is thought to be floating around “orphaned” by the collapse of the Soviet Union. These sites are not under international regulatory control.
“Now we have to face a new threat. There is no limit to the intent [of some] groups to use any type of tool, machine or technology to commit horrific acts and to bring terror, destruction and death,” Zlauvinen told reporters at the Vienna conference.
To illustrate the havoc a dirty bomb can wreak, IAEA officials pointed to Goiania, the Brazilian city that in 1987 was contaminated by thieves who inadvertently stole a 20-gram capsule of highly radioactive cesium-137 — the same material authorities apprehended in Bangkok.
The curious material was cut up and passed around. In all, four persons died, 85 houses had to be destroyed and more than 125,000 drums of contaminated soil, clothing and other effects had to be carted away.
Specialists warn that the dirty bomb is the most likely nuclear terrorism scenario. They say it is nearly impossible for nongovernmental actors to get their hands on the estimated 17 pounds of plutonium or 60 pounds of enriched uranium necessary to build such a weapon. Even if they did, the precise calibration that goes into making the material detonate properly is beyond all but the most sophisticated laboratories.
However, specialists admit that stealing a weapon or its components is possible, especially in unstable regimes. Zlauvinen refused to comment on reports that Pakistan, which tested its own nuclear devices three years ago, might be a source of hardware or weapons for such groups.
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