This study is the result of the “Response to Nuclear and Radiological Terrorism” workshop conducted by the NATO Center of Excellence - Defence Against Terrorism (COE-DAT) on 14-15 January 2010 in Ankara, Turkey, under the sponsorship of Science for Peace and Security Programme. The aim of the workshop was to bring together academics, experts and military professionals to discuss, and exchange views on the current threat of terrorist organizations using nuclear or radiological devices to achieve their goals, the measures that international, regional and national organizations have to take to in order to mitigate this, as well as the management of the consequences in case of such events.

The Center of Excellence - Defense Against Terrorism was established in 2005 with the purpose of supporting NATO on defense issues related to terrorism. In addition to the framework nation, Turkey, there are currently seven other sponsoring nations, namely, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungaria, the Netherlands, Romania, United Kingdom and United States contribute to the activities of the Center by providing staff as well as funding. COE-DAT organizes numerous workshops, seminars, and courses every year with the goal of advancing academic, institutional and practical knowledge, expertise and information on terrorism for interested parties in NATO member States, Partner for Peace (PfP), and Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) countries, as well as other nations.

The Workshop comprised of 6 panels: What is Nuclear Terrorism?, Assessing the Threat of Nuclear Materials in Terror, How to Prevent Nuclear and Radiological Terrorist Attacks, International Cooperation on Preventing Acts of Nuclear/Radiological Terrorism and Future Trends, Concepts in Defence Against Nuclear Terrorism, and was supported by 18 lecturers from various institutions around the world.

The merit of this volume is ultimately due to the arguments and insights of the authors whose essays are collected here. We are grateful to them for their contributions to this volume.