Nuclear Threat Awareness

Test Your Knowledge of the Security of the World's Nuclear Materials

Nuclear Threat Awareness

Test Your Knowledge of the Security of the World's Nuclear Materials

Brought to you by The Washington Post, washingtonpost.com, the Nuclear Threat Initiative and the The Project on Managing the Atom at Harvard's Belfer Center.

1) How many nations have nuclear bombs?
15
9
5
3

2) True or False: Al-Qaeda is known to have acquired at least one nuclear weapon.
True
False

3) How many nations had nuclear weapons but eliminated them?
None
Two
Four
Six

4) True or False: Making a nuclear bomb takes a vast effort with hundreds of scientists like the U.S. Manhattan Project, so it's extremely unlikely a terrorist group could ever do it.
True
False

5) What does HEU stand for?
Heated Extracted Uranium
Highly Enriched Uranium
Hearty Edible Uranium
Highly Extracted Uranium

6) True or False: Abundant amounts of plutonium are found in nature.
True
False

7) True or False: In 2001, U.S. intelligence had concluded al-Qaeda might be able to make a nuclear bomb if it could get the needed nuclear material.
True
False

8) How many cases are on the International Atomic Energy Agency's list of seizures of stolen highly enriched uranium or plutonium (confirmed by the states concerned)?
None
Five
15
142

9) True or False: The U.S. government knows enough about the security for nuclear weapons in countries such as Pakistan, Russia, India and China to be highly confident they are secure.
True
False

10) President Kennedy predicted that, by 1970, there would be how many nuclear weapons states?
5-10
10-15
15-20
20-25

11) True or False: There are international standards that specify how secure nuclear weapons, highly enriched uranium, and plutonium should be.
True
False

View results

Note: This is an unscientific survey of washingtonpost.com readers.