Summary

Chapter 2, “Terrorist Nukes,” is divided into 5 subsections and expresses Muller’s significant doubt that terrorists would be able to build a working nuclear bomb. He says that while it may be possible for a particularly astute high school student to design a bomb, it takes a team of experts to build one that actually works. While terrorists might be able to find a physicist and an engineer and a technician who could put the bomb together, none of the terrorist groups seen so far contained any such people.

“Big Nukes,” describes how nuclear warheads work, and why they have to be so big to be effective. Muller says that while terrorist groups may be able to purchase a nuclear warhead from a disgruntled government employee, they simply would not be capable of producing one themselves. Therefore, he says, the U.S. government...