Nuclear threat
The term “nuclear threat” refers to the potential for a nation-state or terrorist group to acquire sufficient fissile materials to make a weapon, which can be delivered through various means, including submarines and land mobile transporter erector launchers whose locations are difficult to track, or missiles carried on ballistic trajectories over long distances. The choice of delivery vehicles and the strategic purposes they serve determines the type of threat posed by a nuclear weapons system.
Unlike conventional weapons, nuclear bombs require a longer period of time to prepare and launch and are more dangerous than their chemical counterparts because they release radioactive particles that can disperse over wide areas. Consequently, a strategic objective of any country is to limit the number of available launchers and to make the warheads they carry difficult to steal or divert during a conflict.
The most effective way to do so is through comprehensive nonproliferation and counterterrorism (CT) efforts that focus on three end states: prevention of vertical proliferation among nation-states, the horizontal transfer of nuclear materials or technologies to non-nuclear weapons states, and the emergence of a terrorist organization with a nuclear device. The pace at which these efforts can be accomplished is determined by the political climate in a given country and the quality of security systems at facilities where nuclear materials exist. Propped-open doors and guards without ammunition are signs that security systems may not be sufficiently robust in some places.