BBC News Online: World: Europe

UN warns of nuclear terrorist threat

The agency says many nuclear sites are poorly guarded

Speaking at a special meeting in Vienna, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, said since 11 September the agency had shifted its attention to the threat of nuclear terrorism and sabotage.

Mr ElBaradei said the attacks on America meant "the prospect of nuclear terrorism has been catapulted to the forefront".

He said while it was unclear whether terrorists had the capability of building a nuclear bomb, it was a "doomsday scenario" which governments "need to take account of.

"We need to act quickly to protect ourselves," he said.

Radioactive threat

The one-day session of the IAEA was called to discuss ways of reducing the risk of nuclear terrorism and what can be done to secure the world's radioactive materials.

Before the attacks on America, the main concern for the agency was governments diverting nuclear materials to weapons programmes.

Now they are worried about terrorists crashing airliners into nuclear power stations or releasing radioactive material into the environment.

Earlier this week, the US Government banned flights around 86 nuclear facilities, saying it had credible information they could be attacked.

Experts are concerned rogue groups might obtain radioactive material from poorly guarded industrial sites or hospitals, to build crude but deadly dirty bombs.

Mr ElBaradei said while such a device would not kill many people, it would create panic.

The agency has singled out the former Soviet Union as a region where nuclear materials are not adequately regulated.

Mr ElBaradei said all nuclear sites were vulnerable and governments would have to pay for increased security.

He said the attacks on America showed terrorists were willing to commit murder on a massive scale.

"We can't wait until something happens," he said. "We must take preventative measures now."