Charles D. Ferguson
Scientific Consultant, Fellow for Science and Technology, The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
A new book from the Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) warns that substandard security at nuclear facilities in Russia, Pakistan, and Central Asia increases the risk of terrorists seizing highly enriched uranium to make crude, but devastating, nuclear explosives. It urges the United States and its international partners to take immediate steps to prevent the most catastrophic forms of nuclear terrorism and to reduce the consequences of the most likely nuclear terror attacks.
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The NTI Index is recognized as the premier resource and tool for evaluating global nuclear and radiological security.
“The bottom line is that the countries and areas with the greatest responsibility for protecting the world from a catastrophic act of nuclear terrorism are derelict in their duty,” the 2023 NTI Index reports.
The U.S. nuclear budget comprises a variety of programs associated with nuclear weapons, nuclear nonproliferation, nuclear security, and legacy environmental and health costs.