Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Terrorism: Tomorrow's Threat

In early November, the retiring head of Britain's Security Service MI5, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, warned that the danger of a terror attack was 'serious' and 'growing', with as many as thirty plots underway. Manningham-Buller argued that 'Tomorrow's threat may - I suggest will - include the use of chemicals, bacteriological agents, radioactive materials and even nuclear technology'. Traditional terrorism of the sort practised by the Irish Republican Army has given way to the possibility, if not the expectation, that groups such as Al Qaeda might make use of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons and materials in an attack in Britain. So what are the dangers?