Nuclear Material Trafficking

The illicit trade, theft, smuggling or unauthorized possession of nuclear or other radioactive material outside of regulatory control, encompassing both weapons-usable material, such as highly enriched uranium or plutonium, and lower-grade radioactive material that could be used in a radiological dispersal device, sometimes called a dirty bomb. The International Atomic Energy Agency maintains an Incident and Trafficking Database that records confirmed incidents of such trafficking reported by member states, and the offense is addressed internationally through instruments including the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, which obligates signatory states to criminalize the unauthorized possession, use, transfer or theft of nuclear material and to cooperate in recovering it and prosecuting offenders.