Richardson outlines plan to prevent a ‘nuclear 9/11’

Gov. Bill Richardson says the United States must do more to prevent a “nuclear 9/11,” a threat he says the Bush Administration has ignored.

Richardson made the remarks today while giving a policy speech on his plan to prevent nuclear terrorism at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C. You can read Richardson’s remarks by clicking here. You can listen to his speech by clicking here.

He said the United States must help secure nuclear material in the former Soviet Union and work to prevent such material from getting into the hands of terrorists, according to the Associated Press.

Richardson said it isn’t practical to support a nuclear-free world, but said reduction and securing of weapons are reasonable goals. He said the Bush Administration has become consumed by Iraq and, in the meantime, hasn’t adequately funded programs to reduce weapons.

The work won’t be easy, Richardson said.

“It took a Manhattan project to create the bomb,” the news service quoted him as saying. “We need a new Manhattan project to stop the bomb – a comprehensive program to secure all nuclear weapons and all weapons-usable material worldwide.”