Technical Opportunities and Constraints (From New Face of Terrorism: Threats from Weapons of Mass Destruction, P 41-79, 2000, Nadine Gurr and Benjamin Cole, -- See NCJ-190875)

• NCJ Number: 190878
• Author(s): Nadine Gurr; Benjamin Cole
• Date Published: 2000
• Length: 39 pages
• Sale Source: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Report (Technical)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This chapter examined the debate over the ability of terrorists to develop nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) weapons.

Abstract

It is becoming increasingly easy for terrorist groups to develop NBC weapons but there is not agreement over exactly how easy it is. Some suggest that the level of technological difficulty does not vary much between the three types, while others consider that some are more difficult than others to develop, with chemical weapons being the easiest and nuclear weapons being the most difficult. Individuals with links to extremist organizations have frequently been apprehended in possession of chemical and biological weapons. The starting point for any state or terrorist group attempting to develop NBC weapons is to gather together and master the relevant theoretical knowledge. What was once considered to be esoteric knowledge about how to culture and disperse infectious agents has now spread among tens of thousands of people. The increasing numbers of highly educated individuals who are being drawn into sub-state and terrorist groups matches this trend. The task is made easier by the fact that as technology progresses, new ways of developing some types of NBC weapons are emerging, some of which are easier than the old ways. Chemical weapons (CW) are lethal man-made poisons that can be disseminated as gases, liquids, or aerosols. The effectiveness of a CW depends on the nature of the agent and the conditions under which it is used. Biological agents are classified into viruses, bacterial toxins, and rickettsia. As is the case with chemical weapons, the development of biological weapons requires no particularly specialized technology. The relative ease, or difficulty, with which a terrorist organization can acquire the raw materials to produce NBC weapons varies considerably according to the type of device that is being sought. Acquiring fissile material is the most difficult element of nuclear weapon development. If a terrorist group does manage to develop a chemical or biological weapon it then faces the problem of weaponizing it so that it can be delivered effectively. 118 notes