Editing Nuclear terrorism (section)

==Scope==
{{Main|Vulnerability of nuclear plants to attack}}
Nuclear terrorism could include:
* Acquiring or fabricating a nuclear weapon
* Fabricating a [[dirty bomb]]
* Attacking a [[nuclear reactor]], e.g., by disrupting critical inputs (e.g. water supply)
* Attacking or taking over a nuclear-armed submarine, plane, or base.<ref>{{citation |first=Tilman |last=Ruff |title=Nuclear terrorism |url=http://energyscience.org.au/FS10%20Nuclear%20Terrorism.pdf |publisher=energyscience.org.au |date=November 2006 |access-date=2007-10-30 |archive-date=2019-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302204627/http://energyscience.org.au/FS10%20Nuclear%20Terrorism.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Nuclear terrorism, according to a 2011 report published by the [[Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs]] at [[Harvard University]], can be executed and distinguished via four pathways:<ref name="harvard2011">{{cite web|url=http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/Joint-Threat-Assessment%20ENG%2027%20May%202011.pdf|title=The U.S.-Russia Joint Threat Assessment on Nuclear Terrorism|year=2011|publisher=Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University|access-date=July 26, 2012|author=Bunn, Matthew, Colonel Yuri Morozov, Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Simon Saradzhyan, William Tobey, Colonel General (ret.) Viktor I. Yesin, and Major General (ret.) Pavel S. Zolotarev|archive-date=May 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528061617/http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/Joint-Threat-Assessment%20ENG%2027%20May%202011.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
*The use of a nuclear weapon that has been stolen or purchased on the black market
*The use of a crude explosive device built by terrorists or by nuclear scientists who the terrorist organization has furtively recruited
*The use of an explosive device constructed by terrorists and their accomplices using their own fissile material
*The acquisition of fissile material from a nation-state.

Former U.S. President [[Barack Obama]] called nuclear terrorism "the single most important national security threat that we face". In his first speech to the [[United Nations Security Council|U.N. Security Council]], President Obama stated that "Just one nuclear weapon exploded in a city—be it [[New York City|New York]] or [[Moscow]], [[Tokyo]] or [[Beijing]], [[London]] or [[Paris]]—could kill hundreds of thousands of people", and warned such an attack could "destabilize our security, our economies, and our very way of life".<ref name="obam">{{cite web |url=http://www.hks.harvard.edu/index.php/news-events/news/commentary/failure-to-imagine-worst |title=A Failure to Imagine the Worst |author=Graham Allison |date=January 26, 2010 |work=Foreign Policy |access-date=April 11, 2011 |archive-date=April 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408150255/http://www.hks.harvard.edu/index.php/news-events/news/commentary/failure-to-imagine-worst |url-status=dead }}</ref>