Control of Illicit Trafficking of Nuclear Material Used for Terrorist purposes

Illegal movements of nuclear and radioactive materials, for terrorist, political or illegal profit, within and between states continue to occur, presenting health and safety threats to the personnel involved as well as to the general public. To guarantee conducting these movements in a safe and secure manner, they should be subject to extraordinary regulatory, administrative, safety and engineering standards and procedures. This paper intended as an outline of the response mechanisms required to deal with illicit trafficking of radioactive materials. The framework outlined in this paper provides elementary scientific facts, and basis for operational and tactical response measures, considering the nature of incidents, which will vary greatly in both scale and types of response required.