Trafficking in Nuclear Materials—Increase?

According to media outlets, the Department of Homeland Security has announced that “[r]eported incidents of trafficking and mishandling nuclear material worldwide doubled between 2000 and 2005, mainly because of heightened awareness and more extensive screening.”^[1] Note that this does not necessarily mean that actual acts of trafficking are on the rise, as USA Today intimates,^[2] but that the DHS has “received 215 reports of nuclear trafficking and related criminal activity worldwide in 2005, versus 100 incidents in 2000.”^[3] Indeed, as Jerrod Agen—a DHS spokesman—says, “What has doubled is the number of reported events. … This is due mainly to an increase in awareness, more comprehensive reporting and an increase in the number of detection devices.”^[4] Furthermore, very few of the “known illicit nuclear/radiological trafficking incidents involved weapons-usable nuclear materials. … Of the known smuggling incidents to date, the vast majority were profit-motivated scams involving bogus materials.”^[5]

These reports present an issue we addressed with transnational antitrust prosecutions and child pornography prosecutions; they have become more frequently reported, but are such incidents truly on the rise? It seems that, in the context of nuclear trafficking, such incidents are not on the rise. It may seem nitpicky to point this out, but it is important for the public to be presented with an accurate picture of what is going on in world, especially when only a small amount of polonium-210 can leave traces across Europe.

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[1] Nuclear Trafficking Reports Double in 5 Years: Official, Reuters, Dec. 26, 2006.
[2] See Nuclear Material Trafficking on Rise, USA Today (via Tucson Citizen), Dec. 26, 2006.
[3] Reuters, supra note 1.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.