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Books on WMD & terrorism

The following books to help in understanding the nature of nuclear, biological, and chemical threats. In particular, they give you a good sense for how what threats are most likely to materialize based on the type of perpretrator (terrorist, nation-state, individual, etc.). These books also expose what the US government is not doing, but could be doing, to protect us against these threats.

1. Nuclear Terrorism is short and reads very easily, sparing lots of detail to give you the big picture. It is written by the founder of the Kennedy School of Government.
2. The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism by the Monterey Institute of International Studies is the most recent, most comprehensive, and has an extensive bibliography. It covers policy recommendations and also includes technical details, such as the amount of U or Pu  needed for a improvised nuclear device (IND). The full text is available online as a pdf, so you don't have to buy it unless you prefer the book format.
3. America's Achilles' Heel, written back in 1998 by another Kennedy School professor (Falkenrath) who was subsequently tapped by Tom Ridge for the newly formed Department of Homeland Security, covers a wide variety of possibilities spanning nuclear, biological, and chemical threats.

Another reference is a report on WMD by the Office of Technology Assessment.

U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. 1993. Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction: Assessing the Risks. OTA-ISC-559.

How to detect an atomic bomb

If only U2 had dedicated their new album to detection, not dismantling...  I found a few "practical" guides that explain how to do precisely that.

1. Longer: "Radiometric Non-Destructive Assay" by UK's National Physical Lab
2. Shorter: "Comparison of Several Detector Technologies for Measurement of Special Nuclear Materials" based on experiments at Los Alamos National Lab.

The idea is that nuclear materials naturally decay and emit gamma-rays, X-rays, neutrons which can travel through shields (with some attenuation) since these are chargless particles.

I'd recommend the following book for a clearly-written, engaging, and systematic introduction to how things work at the nuclear level. Starting with the basic physics, topics covered include things like natural decay, fission, fusion, shielding, as well as the internal dynamics of nuclear reactors and stars.