congressional research office:Terrorist Nuclear Attacks on Seaports: Threat and Response(key:no chicago mention)

CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Terrorist Nuclear Attacks on Seaports:
Threat and Response

Summary
A terrorist nuclear attack on a U.S. seaport could cause local devastation and affect
the global economy. Terrorists might obtain a bomb in several ways, though each poses
difficulties. Ability to detect a bomb appears limited. The United States is using
technology, intelligence, international cooperation, etc., to try to thwart an attack. Issues
for Congress include safeguarding foreign nuclear material, mitigating economic effects
of an attack, and allocating funds between ports and other potential targets. This report
will be updated as needed.


...Terrorists can counter new technologies. If the United States deploys sensors at
some ports, terrorists might detonate a weapon before it is inspected, or ship it to another
port. If foreign ports screened containers before being loaded onto U.S.-bound ships,
terrorists could infiltrate the ports. Securing the largest ports might lead terrorists to use
smaller ones. Securing every U.S.-bound container might lead terrorists to smuggle a
weapon in a small boat or airplane. Detecting an HEU bomb is difficult because HEU
emits very little radiation. R&D is underway to address this key issue.

...Ports in Major Cities. The terrorist weapons discussed earlier, while lower in
yield than strategic weapons, might produce blast damage over a radius of 1 to 2 miles,
and fire and fallout beyond that range. Accordingly, it might be argued that ports with the
greatest number of people living or working within a mile or two of cargo docks, such as
Philadelphia and New York, should have highest priority in receiving security resources.

...What Priority Should Port Security Have? The 9/11 Commission wrote,
“Opportunities to do harm are as great, or greater, in maritime or surface transportation
[compared to commercial aviation]. Initiatives to secure shipping containers have just
begun.” Terrorists “may be deterred by a significant chance of failure.”20 Improving the
ability to detect terrorist nuclear weapons in the maritime transportation system may make
a terrorist attack on a port less likely to succeed, and thus less probable. The American
Association of Port Authorities, a trade association, welcomed federal grants for port
security upgrades to comply with the MTSA, but called for “substantially greater
resources.”21