Dirty bomb threat 'more realistic'

Thefts of hazardous materials from failed states and the spread of explosives technology around the world mean terrorists are more capable of making such a device, a major new report launched by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith warned.

The document, Contest Two, is an official assessment of the danger Britain faces from terrorist groups and how it will change in future.

It questions whether al Qaida will survive as a unified group and warns future attacks are more likely to come from smaller groups with access to new technology.

The report also warns terrorists have created new explosives and new ways of using them, and that technology developed in conflict zones is quickly shared around the world.

The report said: "Contemporary terrorist organisations aspire to use chemical, biological, radiological and even nuclear weapons. Changing technology and the theft and smuggling of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) materials make this aspiration more realistic than it may have been in the recent past."

Quizzed on whether the risk from CBRNE attacks had increased in the last five years, Ms Smith said: "There is the potential, given the international situation, what we believe to be the aspirations of some international terrorists, that it could be. Failed states, conflict, technology - both in terms of the ability to use materials and the ability to learn about how materials are used - contribute to our concern about that as a threat, including what we know about what terrorists may have previously planned to do and may be planning to do."

Government moves, as part of its anti-terror strategy, to train 60,000 front line staff working in areas that could be targeted by terrorists were challenged by the Tories.

Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said the course was "very insubstantial" as it was voluntary, and lasted three hours "including the coffee break". "I do not see how we can train those people properly in dealing with terrorism in less than half the time allocated to a cycling proficiency course," he said.

The Government is also funding an "extensive programme" of scientific research to develop ways of tackling explosives containing hazardous materials, the document stated.