Arguments Against Nuclear Weapons

Albert Einstein once said, “The explosive force of nuclear fission has changed everything except our modes of thinking and thus we drift towards unparalleled catastrophe. We shall require an entirely new pattern of thinking if humankind is to survive” Albert Einstein, 1946. Nuclear weapons are arguably the most feared weapon ever created. They have the capability to end wars, nations, and even our planet if we are not careful. So, how serious is the threat of a terrorist cell acquiring a nuclear weapon and using it in an attack? Any statement containing the words ‘nuclear and weapon’ must almost always be considered serious but what is the likelihood of a successful nuclear terrorist attack occurring? The answer is anything but straight forward and many different avenues must be explored in order to better understand this current threat.
There have been cases in the past of highly enriched uranium (HEU), a critical component of a nuclear bomb, being in the wrong hands. Sokova (2007) wrote about a hundred grams of weapons grade HEU being seized from a Russian national in 2007 as a result of a sting
Evidence does exist that terrorist cells, such as Al-Qaeda, is constantly pursuing a nuclear capability. Whether that capability is acquisition or production is not necessarily certain, but the sources, as shown by the mishandling of HEU in some countries, are out there. Potential sources of nuclear weapons, like Russia and Pakistan, also present a concern due to their ample supply of tactical nuclear weapons which, by comparison of high yield bombs, have low security measures (Oppenheimer 2005,