After the nuclear disaster over Spain, we bring you the next batch of problems faced by the nuclear world. Nuclear installations and cyber attacks aren’t just limited to movies. A recent study by the study group Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) found out that almost a quarter of the countries using nuclear energy aren’t prepared well enough to cater for the threat of cyber attacks. Seven of the twenty-four countries having weapons-grade Uranium scored zero in their ability to protect their installations from cyber attacks.
Alarmingly enough, twenty of the forty-seven nations who have nuclear power plants didn’t even have basic security apparatus to deal with such a situation. A cyber attack against any of them could lead to a radiation leak and expose millions of people to its harmful effects. Yet, even though most states are willing to achieve this exclusive status, only a handful of these countries are willing to take security seriously.
The NTI put all of their findings together and gave a score to each country on their level of preparedness to deal with such a situation. When assessing the direct risk of having material stolen from the premises, seven countries scored absolutely zero. Although people may argue that regarding Iran and North Korea, the study may be biased, but interestingly enough, the group also contains Belgium, Italy, Argentina, China and former Soviet member Kazakhstan. So, it seems like these countries have serious work to do. Israel and Pakistan scored just one point and both of them with their aggressive doctrines need to work on it. When it came to sabotage, 13 countries who didn’t have nuclear weapons scored zero points. Since they don’t have nuclear weapons, their power plants can be targeted. A full detailed list of the countries and their challenges and scores is given here.