>I think the title of this thread (taken from the title of the article) may be an exaggeration, but who really knows?
>http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Qaida+brink+using+nuclear+bomb/4205104/story.html

Its a dirty bomb not a nuclear bomb. I think the risk from these its somewhat over stated.

You would need to build a massive device to spread the stuff over a wide area and you would need a lot of radioactive material. Then the bomb would have to be very skillfully contructed to spread the material.

Obviously you don't want one going off in a city but the apocalyptic headlines used with them are the usual media hyperbole and the security services attempting to ratchet up a state of fear to ensure their jobs. (I don't think they do that conciously but there is something rather Darwinian about an organism which needs tension and fear being expected to remove them)