Nuclear terror threat discussed at ICONE 10

Emily M. Smith
ASME NEWS

With the events of Sept. 11 still fresh in the minds of many, approximately 500 people attended a special session organized by ASME in April to hear presentations about the possibilities of nuclear terrorism in the United States.

The special session, "The Nuclear Terrorism Threat: A Realistic and Pragmatic Assessment," was open to the public as well as to the more than 700 people who attended the Tenth International Conference on Nuclear Engineering. The session was one of many held during ICONE 10, a four-day event that took place in Arlington, Va.

The session addressing "The Nuclear Terrorism Threat" featured three guest speakers whose presentations were an attempt to assess the threat of terrorism to U.S. nuclear facilities.

The question, "Can Terrorists Obtain a Nuclear Weapon or the Materials to Make One?" was answered by Dale Klein, assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Biological Defense Programs, during his presentation.

Robert Nickell, past president of ASME, an ASME Fellow and current president of Applied Science & Technology, a California corporation, explained the "Safety of Nuclear Containment Facilities" to the audience.

In the last presentation, Ken Sorenson, who is manager of the transportation risk and packaging department at Sandia National Laboratories, discussed "Transporting Nuclear Materials: How Safe Is It?"

ICONE 10 was sponsored by ASME's Nuclear Engineering Division and the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers.

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