ABSTRACT
Terrorists in general might choose to use a radiological weapon for one or more purposes: causing harm to human health through exposure to ionizing radiation, provoking psychological effects through stimulation of people’s fears of radiation, as well as disrupting people’s lives and livelihoods and causing significant economic damage through radioactive contamination of valuable property. Before trying to understand whether jihadist terrorists are motivated to use or capable of using radiological weapons, it is necessary to learn whether these terrorists could obtain the means to conduct a radiological attack by examining the characteristics, composition, and construction of these weapons.
