Obama warns of ISIS' potential nuclear ambitions at summit
WASHINGTON-- Ata 50-nation nuclear security summit meeting today, President Barack Obama said the international community holds 2,000 tons of nuclear material and that if even a small amount fell into the wrong hands, that could be catastrophic.
"The danger of a terrorist group obtaining and using a nuclear weapon is one of the greatest threats to global security," the president said. And the amount of nuclear material it would take to cause such an outcome could be contained in something as small as an apple.
President Obama warned world leaders that groups like ISIS, which has already used chemical weapons, might have nuclear ambitions.
"No doubt that if these mad men got their hands on a bomb or nuclear material, they'd use it to kill as many people as possible."
U.S. intelligence does not believe ISIS has the capability to build a nuclear warhead, but it could steal one, hijack a nuclear facility or craft a so-called "dirty bomb" with the amount of material that could fit inside a coke can.
"That's more of a contamination issue than it is an immediate loss of human life problem," said Laura Holgate, a senior advisor to the president. "What the effects of a dirty bomb in a facility could be, in an urban center could be, how long it takes to clean up, what kind of public panic that might engender."
More than 2,500 incidents of nuclear material theft or unauthorized activity have occurred in the past 20 years. The White House wants to reduce global stockpiles of nuclear weapons and secure atomic material at energy plants, hospitals, and universities.
World leaders asked the president about Donald Trump's recent proposal to give more countries nuclear weapons. Tonight at a press conference, President Obama said those comments show Trump doesn't know much about foreign policy, nuclear weapons or the world in general.