Nuclear smuggling

Thwarting terrorism: Pitt professors track nuclear smuggling

“If you see something, say something.” That is today’s mantra about reporting suspicions of terrorist activity. Ordinarily, that means alerting the authorities to a suitcase left unattended in an airport or a package that looks out of place at a government building.

Two professors at the University of Pittsburgh, however, have taken the “see something, say something” concept to a new level. They have begun updating a database to track the smuggling of nuclear material. Phil Williams, director of the Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security Studies, and Tom Congedo, adjunct professor and associate director of the Stephen R. Tritch Nuclear Engineering Program, are documenting where nuclear material disappears and where it turns up, with the goal of identifying smuggling routes, places that might be ripe for theft and individuals or groups likely to be buyers or sellers of dangerous materials.