Saturday, 7 October, 2006

by Lewis Smith, London
The Australian

SEIZURES of smuggled radioactive material capable of making a terrorist "dirty bomb" have doubled in the past four years, according to official figures.

Smugglers have been caught trying to traffick dangerous radioactive material more than 300 times since 2002, statistics from the International Atomic Energy Agency show. Most of the incidents are understood to have occurred in Europe.

The disclosures come as al-Qa'ida is known to be intensifying its efforts to obtain a radioactive device.

Western security services, including Britain's MI5 and MI6, last year thwarted 16 attempts to smuggle plutonium or uranium. On two occasions, small quantities of highly enriched uranium were reported missing. All were feared to have been destined for terror groups. Scientists responsible for analysing the seizures have warned that traffickers are turning to hospital X-ray equipment and laboratory supplies as a source of radioactive material.

Investigators believe that the smugglers, who come mainly from the former Eastern bloc, are interested only in making a swift fortune and have no idea that their customers are jihadist groups plotting an atrocity. Most undercover operations and recent seizures have been kept secret to protect the activities of Western security services.

Rigorous controls on nuclear processors, especially with Russia co-operating to stop the trafficking of enriched plutonium and uranium, have limited smugglers' access to weapons-grade nuclear materials. But medical and laboratory sources, including waste, remain vulnerable. Such radioactive waste can be used to make a dirty bomb.

A dirty bomb combines a conventional explosive, such as dynamite, with radioactive material such as spent nuclear fuel, including highly enriched uranium and plutonium. In most instances, the conventional explosive would kill more bystanders but the dispersion of the radioactive material could make it more lethal overall.

There were 103 cases of illicit trafficking last year, compared with fewer than 30 in 1996. Fifty-eight incidents were reported in 2002, rising to 90 in 2003 and 130 in 2004.

Seizures of the past three years equal the amount of trafficking in the previous seven years.

Olli Heinonen, deputy director-general of the IAEA, which monitors trafficking and inspects nuclear plants to audit their radioactive materials, said that while weapons-grade nuclear-material smuggling was rare, there were concerns about other radioactive substances.

"A dirty bomb is something that needs to be taken seriously," Mr Heinonen said. "We need to be prepared for anything because anything could happen. Terrorists look for the weakest link. We need to be alert."

Al-Qa'ida makes no secret of its desire to obtain a dirty bomb. Its leader in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, last month called for scientists to join it and experiment with radioactive devices for use against coalition troops.

Even before the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden invited two Pakistani atomic scientists to visit a training camp in Afghanistan to discuss how to assemble a bomb using stolen plutonium. Captured al-Qa'ida leaders have since confessed to the CIA of their attempts to smuggle a radioactive device into the US.

Klaus Lutzenkirchen, who helps analyse the seized substances, said even small quantities of radioactive material could be of use to terrorists.