NUCLEAR TERRORISM
Talking Prevention in Miami
06/11/07
 |
| Director
Mueller addresses the Global Initiative
Nuclear Terrorism Conference in
Miami. |
|
This week in Miami, representatives from nearly
30 countries have gathered to talk shop on
how to combat nuclear terrorism in a first-of-its-kind
international conference led by the FBI and
its Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate.
The
"Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear
Terrorism Law Enforcement Conference"—attended
by some 450 public and private sector officials
from law enforcement, intelligence, border
control, nuclear security, and related professions—is
an outgrowth of an agreement signed by Russia
and the U.S. last summer to build multinational
cooperation on the issue.
Countries
attending include the U.S., Russia, Canada,
China, the U.K., Egypt, Morocco, Germany,
France, Israel, Japan, and others.
The
conference's primary objective: to build
the capabilities of partner nations to investigate,
prevent, and respond to sudden strikes by
terrorists using nuclear devices or other
radioactive materials. To make that happen,
the conference will include:
 |
| The
Deputy Director of Russia's Federal
Security Bureau, Colonel General
Vladimir Ivanovich Bulavin, talked
about his country's efforts to combat
nuclear terrorism and to support
the growing global initiative. |
|
…
Detailed briefings that put the latest information
and best practices in the hands of the participants;
… A complex table top exercise involving
fictitious characters from different countries
plotting and eventually carrying out a nuclear
attack, all designed to help participants
talk through and better understand the many
issues involved;
… A live demonstration in Miami's Orange
Bowl of the collective ability of the FBI
and its partners to respond to a threat involving
a weapon of mass destruction; and
… Case studies covering different aspects
of the threat.
Among
the highlights of the conference on the first
day:
…
Remarks by FBI Director Robert Mueller, Attorney
General
Alberto Gonzales, and Colonel General Vladimir
Ivanovich Bulavin, the Deputy Director of
Russia's Federal Security Bureau;
...A
live feed from Astana, Kazakhstan, where representatives
from nearly 40 countries are gathered in a
parallel initiative to discuss diplomatic
and other issues surrounding nuclear terrorism;
… An intelligence briefing on the threat
by Clyde Layne, Chief Scientist of the Sandia
National Laboratories, who detailed the pursuit
of nuclear and radiological weapons by bin
Laden and other terrorists, previous incidents
and accidents, and the myth that al Qaeda
possesses a suitcase nuke that was trafficked
on the black market by the Russian mafia;
… An overview by Robert Wesley of the
International Atomic Energy Agency on the
illicit trafficking in nuclear and radioactive
materials; Wesley indicated that more than
a thousand incidents were reported from 1993
to 2006, with more than a quarter involving
unauthorized possession and/or criminal activities.
We'll
be covering the conference here on this website
over the coming week. We encourage you to
check back for continuing updates.
