Lecture: "Terror in a handful of dust": Exploring the State-Level Pursuit of Radiological Weapons

Sarah Bidgood, Senior Research Associate and Project Manager, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Middlebury Institute of International Studies, will lecture on “Terror in a handful of dust”: Exploring the State-Level Pursuit of Radiological Weapons.

Experts often talk about radiological weapons in the context of terrorism. Significantly less attention is paid to the potential for national governments to develop these weapons. Researchers at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies have found that a host of countries, including the United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and Iraq, pursued radiological weapons in the past. Using primary source and archival material, they have sought to pinpoint why these programs began, why they stopped, and how this history can inform policy today.