“Nuclear terrorism” refers to a number of different ways nuclear materials might be exploited as a terrorist tactic. These include attacking nuclear facilities, purchasing nuclear weapons, or building such weapons or otherwise finding ways to disperse radioactive materials. For the latter extremists could exploit radioactive materials by creating a “dirty bomb” or a Radiological Dispersion Device (RDD), by loading a conventional bomb with radioactive materials, which would disperse when the bomb exploded.

How Much Expertise Does It Take To Make a Dirty Bomb? Not much more than it takes to make a conventional bomb. No special assembly is required; the regular explosive would simply disperse the radioactive material packed into the bomb. The hard part is acquiring the radioactive material, not building the bomb. On the other hand, counterterrorism experts say that the relative ease of constructing such weapons makes them a particularly worrisome threat.