NEW Op-Ed: The Greatest Terrorist Threat

"Let there be no doubt: If the radical jihadists responsible for the latest assault on innocents in Paris get their hands on weapons of mass destruction, they will not hesitate to use them," write former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, former U.S. Senator Richard Lugar and former UK Defence Secretary Des Browne in a new op-ed for Politico. "The best way to stop a WMD attack is to prevent terrorists from obtaining nuclear materials in the first place."

Nunn, Lugar and Browne–all NTI board members–welcome recent attention on nuclear and radiological security and progress to secure and eliminate materials. "As the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit approaches, we applaud leaders for engaging on the threat and for taking the steps they have already taken to remove and secure vulnerable materials, but we have a long way to go," they write.

They offer a list of steps countries can take now to address the threats of nuclear and radiological terrorism and argue that now is the time for urgent action. "As we mourn the victims of the Paris attacks and as France and its allies avenge their loss, we call on world leaders to dramatically step up efforts to tighten security around the dangerous materials needed to build weapons of mass destruction and disruption."

Read the Politico op-ed.