The entire world watched with horror the outrageous and devastated consequences of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, DC on September 11th, 2001, that killed thousands of people and caused loss of billions of dollars. The amazing fact is how a useful technology as an airplane could be used as a weapon of mass destruction. The questions that immediately come to our minds are: What if the hijackers of those airplanes were to attack our nuclear power plants? Are reactors vulnerable to terrorist sabotage? Could terrorists build a nuclear bomb using stolen materials? The simplest answer to these questions makes us understand that blowing up another federal building, contamination of the nation’s drinking water supply with deadly chemicals, releasing a deadly virus on a highly populated area, or hacking into the nation’s computer systems to shut down banks, phones, TV and radio communications, are just small demonstrations of what terrorism can do to our society. The threat of nuclear terrorism most often brings images of a city totally flattened and incinerated by a nuclear bomb. If a terrorist group does obtain nuclear materials and they have the expertise to fabricate and improvise devices, I think that would probably be the most significant challenge facing Western civilization ever.

        Nuclear technology has been further developed with the false pretext that it would solve a human problem as a "safe" and "cheap" source of energy. However, this seems to be a peaceful promotion of nuclear weapons. Not even the assumption that nuclear weapon is a means to provide security against violence, justifies the development of this technology. And even, if atomic energy is not employed as a biological weapon, the promises of nuclear technology are misleading. The true of the matter is that nuclear power faces formidable obstacles. The nuclear fuel cycle presents drastic and long-lived effects on the environment and the biosphere. So, what is the real cost of this dangerous nuclear fire?

        The events of September 11th should be also considered as a moment of reflection on the dangers that certain technologies impose on all life on Earth. Technology is not necessarily useful. In particular, nuclear technology presents no true meaning and value when it can put us all at the brick of utter extinction and destroy our precious planet several times over. I personally believe that some things are better left alone. With no intention to diminish the consequences of anybody’s actions, I must ask you the following question: Who are the real "terrorists", in a world where governments possess nuclear weapons and are the primary promoters of nuclear energy?