Scientists expanding ways to trace lost or stolen nuclear materials

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Like crime scene detectives, scientists around the world are combining their skills in a new field of "nuclear forensics" to combat the threat of atomic terrorism. "Nuclear terrorism is a global threat, not local or regional," said Anita Nilsson, director of the office of nuclear safety at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria. Between 1993 and 2007 there were 1,340 cases reported of illicit trafficking of various types of nuclear materials around the world, she said.