Nuclear Summit to Focus on Dirty Bomb Scenario

(TNS) - When it comes to nuclear attacks, there is no shortage of nightmare scenarios.

Saboteurs could breach a nuclear power station and start a reactor meltdown. A renegade Pakistani general could seize tactical nuclear weapons and blow up a city. Radioactive materials, which are found in many hospitals, could cause dirty bomb mayhem at an airport.

Against this backdrop, President Barack Obama will host world leaders for a Nuclear Security Summit on Thursday, in an international effort to stop possible assailants from using radioactive material to outdo the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.

The leaders may not be doing enough. Analysts point to big gaps in the global security architecture, dozens of atomic power plants coming online in developing regions and new threats, such as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL also know as ISIS), on the scene.

"The world has drastically improved nuclear security these past 25 years but significant gaps remain and the government structure for nuclear security is a patchwork," former White House science adviser Matthew Bunn told Al Jazeera.