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CNN Live Saturday

James Walsh Discusses al Qaeda's Nuclear Capability

Aired November 17, 2001 - 15:27   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Now, apparently al Qaeda members were trying to build nuclear weapons. But just how far did they get? Joining us now to explore these questions is James Walsh, who is with Harvard University. Thank you for joining us this afternoon and staying with us through the news conference there.

JAMES WALSH, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: No problem. Thank you.

CALLAWAY: You've done a tremendous amount of research on weapons of mass destruction, and after looking at these papers, or looking at what we've reported on these papers, does it change your opinion in any way on how far the al Qaeda members were in acquiring nuclear weapons at all?

WALSH: Well, I think that CNN and the "Times" of London reports are significant. Clearly, they are serious. There is evidence of intent of the part of bin Laden to pursue weapons of mass destruction in a variety forms, but I think there's a difference between wanting nuclear weapons and getting them. And it would be a mistake to think that because he has documents, he has the ability to make a nuclear weapon.

If I give a terrorist a bag of silicone and a blueprint, they're not going to be able to make a portable laptop -- laptop computer. And similarly, there are technical and engineering challenges with the construction of nuclear weapons that I think would pose difficult obstacles for most terrorist groups.

CALLAWAY: Well, certainly, as you said, reading and researching about nuclear weapons does not mean that you're very close to acquiring them, but obviously, they're seriously interested in it. What are some of the obstacles that they would encounter in trying to get there?

WALSH: Well, there are two main obstacles. One is procuring the bomb material -- the stuff that makes the bombs go, and that's highly enriched uranium or plutonium. Now, that's a challenge in and of itself, although less of a challenge than it used to be, because some of these materials may not be as secure and as protected as we would like, particularly in the former Soviet Union.

After acquiring these materials, the next step is taking these raw materials and fashioning them into a nuclear weapon, which is quite a difficult task. But I think your underlying point is correct. This is a wake-up call. The fact, Catherine, that you and I could even be discussing the possibility that a terrorist would have nuclear weapons should tell us that something is very, very wrong.

CALLAWAY: Right, Mr. Walsh, I just want to say that it has to inevitable that at some point one of these terrorist cells will eventually have one.

WALSH: Well, it's inevitable only if we let it become inevitable. I think in the short term, we have to do a better job of protecting sensitive nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union, but also around the world, in every nuclear weapons state. And in the long term, the only way to get at this problem is to stop and then reverse the spread of nuclear weapons. The fewer nuclear weapons there are, the fewer chances that a terrorist will be able to acquire one and detonate one.

CALLAWAY: We have seen some reports from the Bush administration that they do not feel that bin Laden has these chemical weapons, I mean, these nuclear weapons. Do you agree with that?

WALSH: I think that's probably right. I think it's highly unlikely that he has nuclear weapons. Now, he may have what's been called a radiological weapon or a dirty bomb, and that's when you take a convention explosive and you simply strap a radioactive element...

CALLAWAY: Well, we abruptly lost him -- James Walsh of Harvard University -- we apologize for that. Hopefully, we can get him back later this hour.

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