U.S. STUDYING RISKS OF NUCLEAR TERRORISM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100060001-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 20, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 18, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STET
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/20 :CIA-RDP90-009658000100060001-7
WASHINGTON ~IFI~
18 December 1986
8y Ted Agres
U.S. studying risks
of nuclear terrorism
The FBI and CIA are conductin
a to -secret stud to assess t e risks
pose terrorists obtam~m~_n_u-_
c ear weapons. 'T~as iTi naton
Times has learned.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commis-
sion, which oversees commercial
nuclear power reactors in the United
States, requested the study this year.
According to knowledgeable
sources, the commission is particu-
larly concerned that n clear power
plants may be vu~tterable to
explosives-laden truc mbs, simi-
lar tothose used in the Middle East.
While damage to a nuclear power
plant would be nowhere as cata-
strophic as detonation of a nuclear
weapon, there could be great dam-
age from the spread of radiation,
similiar to the aftermath of the ex-
plosion at the Chernobyl reactor in
the Soviet Union.
Part of the intelligence report,
sources said, will focus on identify-
ing which domestic and interna-
tional groups would be most likely
and most capable of engaging in nu-
clear or nuclear-related acts of ter-
rorism.
As a senior FBI official involved
in counterterrorism policy warned,
"If some terrorist group seized a nu-
clear facility, obviously there would
be a tremendous amount of hysteria
created, regardless of how it was
handled:'
Some experts already have identi-
fied specific domestic terrorist
groups as having the capability and
possible motivation to seek nuclear
materials or weapons.
Bruce Hoffman, an analyst at the
Rand Corp., reports in a study spon-
sored by the Energy Department
that Islamic terrorists, especially if
backed by Iran or Libya, might at-
tack a U.S. facility to acquire ma-
terial to make a bomb or to obtain an
assembled weapon.
In this country, left-wing terror-
ists might target a nuclear facility
"to make a point" of the dangers as-
sociated with them, Mr. Hoffman
states. And right-wing terrorists,
such as the neo-Nazi white su-
premacists, might seek to acquire
nuclear capability to "hasten Arma-
geddon" or to bomb Israel or attack
the U.S. government.
Robert Kupperman, a terrorism
analyst at the Center for Strategic
and International Studies, disagreed
with this analysis. "If terrorists
wanted to engage in mass de-
struction, why wouldn't they go with
biological weapons" that are far eas-
ier to obtain and use?
That, however, is a different sort
of worry.
The threat or actual release of ra-
dioactive material into the environ-
ment or the threat of a deliberate
nuclear accident, such as a core
meltdown, could be attractive to
some terrorists, according to Paul
Leventhal, president of the Nuclear
Control Institute. Security at com-
mercial facilities traditionally has
not been as tight as that at military
sites.
"Nuclear power plants could be
vulnerable if terrorists succeed in
entry or in detonating a truck bomb
at a perimeter fence or elsewhere on
the site;' he said.
The utilities that operate these
commercial facilities have been re-
luctant to install expensive security
measures whose costs probably
would be passed on to consumers,
assuming approval by public rate
commissions.
Elizabeth Ten Eyck, deputy direc-
tor of the NRC's Division of Safe-
guards, said the agency has been
studying security problems at com-
mercial plants for some time, espe-
cially involving the threat from
truck bombs. She said studies have
beer done of the various nuclear
sites to determine the vulner-
abilities of each, but would not
elaborate.
The most frightening prospect,
however, is that of terrorists obtain-
ing anuclear weapon or sufficient
plutonium to construct a crude nu-
clear device.
A nuclear weapon in such hands,
many experts believe, would be the
ultimate nightmare. Depending on
the motivations of the terrorists,
they could effectively hold an entire
city -and possibly a nation and its
government -hostage to their de-
mands.
As Energy Secretary John Her-
rington, whose department runs the
nation's nuclear weapons production
facilities, told The Times: "If we
can't run top security in this, the
~.vhole (nuclear weapons) program is
going to be jeopardized"
Most authorities still believe the
likelihood of nuclear terrorism oc-
curring in the United States remains
slim. There is no evidence that a ter-
rorist group has already obtained
nuclear capability or is about to do
so.
But many experts also believe
that this may be changing, as terror-
ist acts overseas are increasing and
becoming more deadly.
Terrorists also are becoming
more technically sophisticated.
Some experts believe that a handful
of terrorists, with the assistance of
a few knowledgeable scientists or
especially with help from a foreign
government, might construct a nu-
clear bomb with a relatively small
amount of suitable fissionable mate-
rialeither stolen or purchased on the
black market.
Some experts debate whether ter-
rorists could ever have the know-
how to steal or make a nuclear de-
vice. But the government doesn't
like to take chances. The Depart-
ment of Energy, which runs the na-
tion's nuclear weapons research, de-
velopment and fabrication facilities,
spends $750 million a year on safe-
guards and security.
One part of the problem is the
number and variety of nuclear fa-
cilities. These include nearly 60 sites
under DOE jurisdiction, some 18 of
which are directly involved in re-
search, construction and testing of
nuclear weapons.
The Energy Department is re-
sponsible for producing nuclear
weapons for the military. Bomb com-
ponents are designed and man-
ufactured at these 18 facilities
across the country. The parts are
shipped to DOE's Pantex Plant in
Amarillo, 'tlexas, where they are as-
sembled.The completed bombs then
are delivered to the military for de-
ployment in the United States and
abroad.
The DOE plants are operated un-
der contract by private companies.
In almost all cases, the guard forces
also are provided by private firms.
These facilities, according to ex-
perts, are prime targets for terror-
ists seeking nuclear weapons or ma-
terial.
In response, the Energy Depart-
ment last year embarked on a crash,
multi-million dollar program to up-
grade safeguards and security at the
weapons facilities. It's called Opera-
tion Cerberus, after the mytholog-
ical three-headed creature that
guarded the gates of hell.
About a third of the department's
94 recommendations already have
been carried out. Some of the others
are under way and still others are in
the budgetary pipeline for future
fiscal years.
"I think we are making amazing
progress;' DOE's Mr. Herrington
said. "I'm satisfied that we're doing
the job" .
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/03/20 :CIA-RDP90-009658000100060001-7