US Narratives of Nuclear Terrorism Since 9/11 Worst-Case Scenarios
This study examines the US fiction and related films which makes a series of interventions in the cultural debate over the threat of nuclear terrorism. It traces the beginnings of this anxiety from the 1970s, which increased during the 1990s after the col
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US Narratives of Nuclear Terrorism Since 9/11
David Seed
US Narratives of Nuclear Terrorism Since 9/11 Worst-Case Scenarios
David Seed University of Liverpool Liverpool, UK
ISBN 978-1-137-54327-1 ISBN 978-1-137-54328-8 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54328-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018968344 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019 The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identified as the author(s) of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover credit: Aron Jungermann/Getty Images This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Limited The registered company address is: The Campus, 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW, United Kingdom
Contents
1 Introduction 1 2 Beginnings 43 3 Pre-emptive Investigations 79 4 Suitcase Nukes 115 5 After the Blast 151 6 Visions of Apocalypse 189 7 EMP and Cyberterrorism 233 8 Bioterrorism 271 Bibliography 303 Index 335
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CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Secret/Public “The single biggest threat to U.S. security, both short-term, medium-term and long-term, would be the possibility of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon” (Sanger 2010). With this grim warning, President Barack Obama opened the 2010 nuclear summit in Washington, DC. The following year his warning was repeated in a Rand Corporation report which tacitly recognized the role of fiction in dramatizing this fear, stating that “so far, at least, nuclear terrorism has occurred only in novels. Nuclear terror, on the other hand, is a fact. What matters now is whether we are its victims or its masters” (Jenkins and Godges 98). Indeed the threat from a smuggled nuclear device has been institutionalized by Homeland Security since 2004 as National Response Scenario Number
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