A nuclear attack by terrorists is not an impossibility

In Malaysia there is a real concern that IS fighters may attempt to build bombs with radioactive materials. Malaysian Police have recorded no less than 20 cases of radioactive and nuclear materials that have gone missing in recent years.

What is Singapore doing to beef up its nuclear security?

Since the first Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in 2010, Singapore has tightened checks on radioactive materials passing through its ports, with every case of nuclear fuel transiting through Singapore being tracked.

At the 4th NSS in Washington DC last year, PM Lee said that from time to time, Singapore has intercepted cargo and confiscated items.

With the world becoming increasingly vulnerable to terrorism, a nuclear attack by terrorists using devices bought from the black market is “very plausible and believable”, and is a threat which countries must take seriously, Mr Lee said at the Summit in April 2016.

“Terrorism in itself is a severe problem. If it's mixed up with a terrorist who has some form of radioactive weapon or WMD (weapon of mass destruction), a nuclear weapon, nuclear bomb, that's even worse,” he said.

In addition to rolling out tighter controls to detect and analyse radioactive and nuclear materials passing through its borders, also cooperates with international partners such as the Interpol Global Complex for Innovation in Singapore, which fosters the sharing of data about transnational threats among countries.

Singapore also participates in the Proliferation Security Initiative – a global effort that combats the trafficking of weapons of mass destruction.

It also adopts the recommendations of the Financial Agency Task Force, which is an intergovernmental body that fights against money laundering and terrorism funding.