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Securing the Bomb 2007
Slide Show
Hiroshima After the Bomb
This photograph shows the results of a relatively simple gun-type bomb. The danger that terrorists could do this to the heart of a modern city is very real. Such an attack could kill hundreds of thousands of people, with devastating economic effects that would reverberate worldwide. The terrorists would surely claim they had more weapons hidden in other cities, and no one would know if this was true, creating the potential for large-scale panic. America and the world would be changed forever. As President Bush has said, the nations of the world must do "everything in our power" to prevent nuclear weapons and the materials needed to make them from ever falling into terrorist hands. While many programs are now in place to reduce the risk, the United States and the world are falling far short of the "everything in our power" standard. There remains a dangerous gap between the urgency of the threat and the scope and pace of the U.S. and international response.
For more information on next steps that should be taken, see Chapters 3, 4, and 5 of Securing the Bomb 2007.
The Securing the Bomb section of the NTI website is produced by the Project on Managing the Atom (MTA) for NTI, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. MTA welcomes comments and suggestions at atom@harvard.edu. Copyright 2007 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.