Experts to testify of 'real and growing' nuclear threat to U.S.

By Mimi Hall
USA TODAY 

WASHINGTON — The government must act to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism in a major U.S. city, senior government officials and top terrorism experts are scheduled to tell the Senate today.

Testifying as part of a months-long Senate investigation into the government's ability to prevent a nuclear attack, the experts will paint a chilling picture of a post-nuclear America: hundreds of thousands dead, $1 trillion in damage and panic nationwide.

"The prospect of terrorists detonating a nuclear device on American soil sometime within the next quarter-century is real and growing," according to prepared testimony from Gary Ackerman, research director of the Homeland Security Department-funded National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. "Such a calamitous attack would represent a game-changing event far exceeding the impact of9/11 on the nation."

Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, director of the Department of Energy's Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, outlined several steps the government has taken to mitigate the threat. Among them are working with other governments to try to eliminate and secure nuclear stockpiles.

"Today, al-Qaeda's nuclear intent remains clear," his testimony says. The near-monthly reports of people trying to smuggle "real or purported" nuclear materials means "that we collectively have not done enough to suppress trafficking and ensure the security of all nuclear materials worldwide," according to his testimony.

The Senate homeland security committee is conducting the government's first investigation into nuclear terrorism and the needs and plans for responding.

Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., said Tuesday that the hearing "is not to encourage unnecessary fear but to confront the threatening realities so that we can then deal with them in defense of our country and people."

Charles Allen, intelligence chief at the Homeland Security Department, said, "One of our gravest concerns is the entry of a nuclear device or materials into the U.S."

In testimony, Allen said he does not believe that any terrorist group has a nuclear device in hand, but "the terrorist threat is dynamic and constantly evolving."

Among the steps taken to address the threat since 9/11:

•The Energy Department has stepped up efforts to secure nuclear stockpiles worldwide and stop illegal trafficking. It also has beefed up teams capable of disarming a nuclear device.

• Myriad government agencies are developing a national registry to identify and track nuclear materials in the USA.

•Homeland Security is testing radiation-detection equipment and working at overseas ports to screen cargo containers before they are loaded onto ships headed to the USA.