Nuclear Facility Attack Database

ABOUT | FAQ | SOURCES | VARIABLES | DATABASE

Beta Release

The Nuclear Facilities Attack Database (NuFAD) is a global database recording assaults, sabotages and unarmed breaches of nuclear facilities. The database emerged when several START researchers sought to explore the potential terrorist threat to nuclear facilities and discovered that there was a general lack of systematic open source data on the topic. What followed was a comprehensive attempt to identify the most relevant data from among the numerous historical anecdotes, unsubstantiated reports and vague references to attacks.

The resulting Nuclear Facility Attack Database (NuFAD) contains 80 cases identified from open sources. A full source listing can be found here.

Access the database here:

The NuFAD is described and analyzed extensively in an upcoming publication:

Gary A. Ackerman and James Halverson, “Attacking Nuclear Facilities: Hype or Genuine Threat?” in Brecht Volders, Tom Sauer (eds.) Nuclear Terrorism: Countering the Threat, New York, Routledge (2016)

This initial beta version of the database provides brief summaries of each incident, an interactive map and timeline, and the ability to filter out cases that do not meet the criteria desired by the user. Future versions will include greater detail on each incident and other features as described in greater depth in the FAQ section. Please direct feedback concerning the database to James Halverson at jhalvers@umd.edu.

NuFAD Creators