Nuclear Terrorism Cons & Risks - United States - Essay Example

In the eve of Nuclear Security Summit in April 2010, President Barrack Obama pronounced the prospect of nuclear terrorism as the biggest threat to US security in long term, medium term and short term (Michael, 2012). Equally, in the final report of 2011, the Commission reported the threat from terrorists armed with a weapon of mass destruction as the greatest danger faced by America. The Union of Concerned Scientists considers the development of nuclear items as the biggest long-term threat facing the US and International security nowadays.

Fenopetov, et.al (2011) noted that the efforts by various countries of the post-soviet space and those extra-regional actors to form an inclusive, cooperative security structure that can deal with new postmodern threats have very little success. Nuclear pose both direct and indirect threats to US security. Direct threats to US security start from the proliferation, nuclear terrorism, unauthorized or inadvertent use and risk of accidents (Below, 2009). The US has several licensed nuclear power reactors that generate a certain percentage of the total energy consumed in the US.

The location of several nuclear reactors is near large population centers. Many experts consider US nuclear reactors to be of high-value aim for a terrorist resolute to perpetrate large-scale death and destruction in the United States. A report commissioned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) showed security vulnerability associated with the energy system. The report noted that the close location to population centers makes those centers prime candidates for strategic nuclear targeting or conventional bombing.

Currently, nuclear proliferation is another pressing threat. Mostly those countries that have differences with the US and its allies are likely to acquire nuclear weapons. In pursuit of their ambitions, countries such as Iran and North Korea have violated the non-proliferation duties and defied the