It is a mistake to conflate the effects of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons (CBRN). While the effects of an attack with chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons may be more devastating then an attack with a radiological dispersion device (RDD), it must be considered that a radiological weapon requires less skill to construct and detonate. According to Dr. Charles Ferguson, Fellow for Science and Technology for the Council on Foreign Relations, “the likelihood of a dirty bomb attack is much higher than a nuclear bomb attack, mainly because of the prevalence of commercial radioactive materials and the relative ease of construction of a dirty bomb.”
It is therefore not surprising that media sources are reporting that American and British intelligence officials believe that al-Qaeda and some of its ideological affiliates have the capability and desire to carry out an attack with a RDD ? more commonly known as a ‘dirty bomb’.
As far back as ten years ago Chechen rebels constructed a dirty bomb. In 1996, Russian authorities found and successfully disabled a dirty bomb composed of cesium-137 and dynamite placed in Moscow’s Izmailovo Park. The authorities were acting on Chechen rebel warnings to the Russian media that they had planted the weapon in the park.
Further, the arrest of Abu Zubaydah and Jose Padilla revealed that al-Qaeda was at the very least interested in detonating a dirty bomb within the United States . According to media sources, Zubaydah told his interrogators that al-Qaeda had constructed a dirty bomb and sent Padilla to the US to plan for an attack.
According to the Washington Post, in March 2002 the Bush administration believed that al-Qaeda possessed radioactive containments that could be used in the construction of a dirty bomb. US Intelligence officials believed that al-Qaeda had acquired enough cesium, strontium, or cobalt to construct a dirty bomb. However, officials believed that Zubaydah planned on acquiring radioactive sources for the dirty bomb within the US rather then smuggling a fully constructed device across the border.
While radiological components are not as widely available as conventional explosives, they can still be acquired from a number of sources. For example, many hospitals use small quantities of cesium-137 in nuclear medicine. Food irradiation plants also use cobalt-60 to eliminate bacteria on food. Malicious actors could also gather spent radioactive fuel from nuclear reactors in abandoned Russian submarines ? among other sources.
Finally, in January 2003, British officials in Herat, Afghanistan found plans and specifications for the construction of a dirty bomb. Allegedly, beginning as early as 1999 al-Qaeda worked on developing a dirty bomb and had even acquired radioactive components from the Taliban .
Unfortunately, the combination of the availability of commercial radiological sources, the ease of construction of a dirty bomb and al-Qaeda’s ideologically dispersion to homegrown cells throughout the world portends an increased threat from dirty bombs. Bin Ladin’s own words highlight this threat. During an interview with ABC news in 1998 Osama bin Ladin, when asked about chemical weapons and efforts to obtain nuclear weapons, stated, “I would say that acquiring weapons for the defense of Muslims is a religious duty. To seek to possess the weapons that could counter those of the infidels is a religious duty.” Certainly these words may be boastful attempts by bin Ladin to intimidate and terrorize al-Qaeda’s enemies. Unfortunately, as demonstrated by the above evidence it appears that bin Ladin’s words are more then empty rhetoric.
