Hosted by the US Stanley Foundation, the Reuters Foundation and Germany's Gerda Henkel Foundation on 6-8 June 2011, the seminar featured a panel discussion in which Rizwana joined Bruce Blair and Matthew Brown of nuclear non-proliferation movement Global Zero on 'Preventing Nuclear Terrorism – Is it Possible?'.

Rizwana, who makes frequent presentations on the use of nuclear weapons, put forward the argument that the technical challenges involved in the process of nuclear weapons development are likely to be too great for a terrorist group to achieve. She said that the major worry and the most common threat arises from not weapons of mass destruction, but chemical, biological weapons and fissile materials that contribute to making a radiological dispersion device (RDD), also known as a Dirty Bomb.

There were also discussions on the potential theft of nuclear weapons from a state which possesses this capability; Rizwana argued that these are regarded as national assets and would have failsafes to prevent this eventuality. However, no system involving men or machines is ever foolproof and any error can have tragic consequences. She was also quizzed on the recent terrorist attack on Pakistan’s naval base in Karachi, and the security of its nuclear weapons and facilities in the wake of this.

Rizwana completed her PhD in our Department of Politics and International Relations and is now a Post-doctoral Research Fellow there.