The Real Threat Of Nuclear Smuggling :: essays research papers

The Real Threat of Nuclear SmugglingThis interpretation was based on the controversy over the threat that atomicsmuggle poses. It begins by going over the view of each side in a briefmanner. It states that some analysts dismiss it as a s adjudger nuisance whileothers find the danger to be really genuinely and probable. This reading stands mainlyfor the belief that thermonuclear smuggling is a squ be danger. The analysts that findthis issue to be a problem say that nuclear smuggling presents grave and seriousbecause even though the percent of these guinea pig of smuggling is less than that ofdrugs for example, the law-enforcement type officials are as well as less seeat stopping shipments of an item such as uranium than they are in seizingmarijuana or hashish.These same analysts have also found that even a small leakage rate of anytype of nuclear material can have extremely broad consequences and dangers. Theysay that although secrecy rules make precise numbers impossible to get, doubting Thomas B.Cochran of the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, D.C., estimatesthat a bomb requires between terce and 25 kilograms of enriched uranium orbetween one and eight kilograms of plutonium. A Kilogram of plutonium occupiesabout 50.4 cubic centimeters, or one ordinal the volume of a standard aluminumsoft-drink can.In addition to this, analysts have found that security is much to lax ineven the purportedly "most protected locations". For example, the Russian storesin particular suffer from baggy security, poor inventory management andinadequate measurements. Then there is the roughly nonexistent security atnuclear installations that compounds the problem. The main reason for this overleapof security is that pay and conditions have worsened and disaffection has becomewidespread. So with an alienated workforce suffering from low and often latewages, the incentives for nuclear theft have become far greater at the very timethat restriction s and controls have deteriorated.Against this background, it is hardly surprising that the number ofnuclear-smuggling incidents-both real and fake-has change magnitude during the someyears. German authorities for example, reported 41 in 1991, 158 in 1992,241 in1993 and 267 in 1994. Although most of these cases did involve materialsuitable for bombs, as the number of incidents increases so does the likelihoodthat at least a few will include weapons-grade alloys.In March 1993, according to a report from Istanbul, six kilograms ofenriched uranium entered Turkey through the Aralik border entry in Kars Province.Although confirmation of neither the incident nor the degree of the uraniumsenrichment was forthcoming, It raised fears that Chechen "Mafia" groups had