Nuclear terrorism is a small threat today. But the fact that it is a small threat makes it very serious. The consequences of a nuclear terror act could be devastating and cost thousands if not millions of lives. It is important to understand why the world is very concerned about certain countries having nuclear programs. Poor countries with nuclear programs could easily be tempted by terrorist networks with access to a lot of money, and therefore sell either bombs directly or access to nuclear facilities.

But what is nuclear terrorism?

Well it could be either a terrorist network getting their hands on nuclear bombs or materials. But also attacks on poorly guarded facilities, which would then again spread nuclear materials in areas.

After the catastrophe in Japan it should be obvious for everyone how serious this is. A nuclear plant normally holds a huge quantity of nuclear materials, and therefore could be target of terrorism with great destruction to follow.

In 1986 with the Chernobyl disaster came 30 deaths, and an evacuation of more than 100.000 people. Of which many suffered from radioactive sickness and a lot of people ended up with cancer in different sorts. So we know what consequences these accidents have to follow. But how do we stop it?

It is a fact that as long as we have nuclear bombs and nuclear power plants, we run a risk of nuclear terror. So we need to do everything we can to disarm nuclear bombs, and that can only come with a worldwide agreement. We need to stop poor countries (E.g. North Korea and Iran) with their nuclear programs. And lastly we need to start looking for different power sources which we are doing already.

But switching away from nuclear power is not going to happen tomorrow. The nuclear power plants produce a high amount of power. And it does very little pollution to the environment as long as it is controlled. Right now we don’t have other sources to produce the same amount of power. Not without large investments.

So the threat will be here as long as we obtain power from nuclear sources.

Around 50 countries are gathered in South Korea to discuss how to prevent these forms of terrorism. With Barack Obama, president of the United States leading these discussions, we will have an agenda of disarmament, security, the upcoming North Korean satellite launch next month, and what to do with the threat of nuclear terrorism.