Stopping Nuclear Terrorism Is a Game of Odds, Not Certainty

Editor's note: An Associated Press investigation into weapons traffickers attempting to sell nuclear material to terrorists prompted us to republish a WIRED feature from 2003 about the difficulty of preventing nuclear terrorism. As it happens, the loading docks belong to American Science and Engineering, the company where Kinsella works as principal software engineer, and he's preparing to demonstrate its MobileSearch X-ray and radiation sensor technology. For the past decade, the 44-year-old firm has developed X-ray scanners that help customs officials detect contraband in the war on drugs; now it's one of a handful of companies racing to manufacture devices that detect nuclear and radiological weapons. Kinsella and AS&E chief technology officer Joseph Callerame usher me into an RV-like vehicle parked alongside the Mercedes and the truck.