Austrian nuclear chief pleads for tighter security
The UN atomic agency’s chief today urged world leaders to act quickly to safeguard radioactive materials, pleading for governments to impose stringent new controls to avert nuclear catastrophe.
Citing new fears of nuclear terrorism in wake of the September 11 attacks, Mohamed El Baradei, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said at a special safety conference that nations must secure radioactive materials before terrorist networks obtain them.
El Baradei said the willingness of terrorists to commit suicide and inflict massive damage makes the possibility of a nuclear-related attack much more likely now than before September 11.
‘‘We need to act quickly to protect ourselves,’’ he said.
Seeking to minimize the risk of nuclear terrorism, delegates from most of the IAEA’s 132 member states are discussing in Vienna, the Austrian capital, what can be done to secure the world’s radioactive materials. The agency sets world standards for atomic safety and provides help to countries in case of a radiological disaster.
Pleading for international unity in creating universal and stringent controls on nuclear materials, El Baradei said some governments - especially in poor countries need to do more to prevent nuclear material from falling into the hands of terrorists.
He said it is unclear whether terrorist groups have the capability of building a nuclear bomb but warned that governments must act quickly to prevent that from happening.
‘‘We don’t have any information that al-Qaida or any other terrorist organisation has nuclear material,’’ he said. ‘‘We are not directing our attention against any particular terrorist group, just protecting against any possible attack.’’
Before September 11, the agency was worried most about the risk of governments ‘‘diverting nuclear materials into clandestine weapons programmes,’’ El Baradei said. Now, however, experts are more concerned about terrorists attacking nuclear plants directly or releasing radioactive material into the environment.
With terrorists now willing to inflict unprecedented destruction, experts worry that terrorists could now resort to a so-called ‘‘dirty bomb.’’ Unlike more sophisticated nuclear weapons, a ‘‘dirty bomb’’ is a crude device using radioactive material taken from industrial sites or hospitals and detonated by conventional explosives.
When a ‘‘dirty bomb’’ explodes, radioactive material is dispersed. Such a crude weapon may not kill many people, but would touch off panic, El Baradei said.
Government regulation of some sources of radiation such as that used for radiotherapy in hospitals is very weak. Some governments - such as those in the former Soviet Union must do more to regulate nuclear materials, El Baradei said.
El Baradei also stressed that all nuclear sites are vulnerable particularly if a fuel-filled jumbo jet slams into a nuclear reactor. Nuclear facilities were not built with this threat in mind, he said.
He said he welcomes the US and French decisions to place anti-aircraft batteries near some nuclear facilities.
‘‘We can’t wait until something happens,’’ he said. ‘‘We must take preventive measures now.’’
