ISIS Reports
Future World of Illicit Nuclear Trade: Mitigating the Threat
by David Albright, Andrea Stricker, and Houston Wood
October 1, 2013
Download PDFExecutive Summary
Of the roughly two dozen countries that have pursued or obtained nuclear weapons during the
last fifty years, almost all of them depended importantly on foreign supplies. As a short term
projection over the next five to ten years, illicit nuclear trade is likely to be conducted by several
nations seeking nuclear weapons or wanting to maintain existing nuclear weapons arsenals or
capabilities. Additional states in regions of proliferation concern may utilize smuggling methods
to acquire advanced, ostensibly civilian, nuclear technology including uranium enrichment and
plutonium production and separation capabilities. And despite many recent, particularly United
States-led, successes, stopping this trade will remain difficult. Absent mitigating actions, several
existing or expected trends are projected to make it easier for smugglers to succeed in acquiring
nuclear and nuclear-related goods and technology.
Future illicit trade can be stopped through measures taken today as long as the political will is
there to foresee and address future threats. A range of countermeasures aimed at mitigating or
eliminating these future threats must be employed today to stop them from emerging in the next
five to ten years. Preventing the future world of illicit trade is imperative to U.S. and
international security and to the creation of a world safer from the spread and use of nuclear
weapons.
Read the full report: Future World of Illicit Nuclear Trade: Mitigating the Threat
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