Concerns of nuclear safety in Germany after terror attacks

World Today

As world leaders gather for the nuclear security summit, there are renewed concerns terrorists could get their hands on radioactive material.

In the wake of the Brussels attacks, nuclear facilities across Europe are on high alert. CCTV America’s Guy Henderson reports from Berlin.

In the birthplace of nuclear fission the anti-nuclear movement is vibrant. To proponents, nuclear technology provides untold benefits. But it’s the devastating downside that’s currently in the spotlight.

Europe has long been alert to the threat of nuclear terrorism. But the arrest of a man allegedly linked to last November’s Paris attacks has raised renewed alarm because he was found with surveillance footage of a high-ranking Belgian nuclear official.

In the wake of the latest atrocities, already extremely tight security has been further increased at Belgium’s civilian facilities.

Experts say gaining access or stealing from one remains unlikely and point out the scientific complexity involved remains a factor in governments’ favor.

“They know about explosives and about weaponry and they can organize and plan all that. But that doesn’t mean they are also experts on nuclear physics,” Henning Riecke, nuclear security expert with the German council on foreign relations said.