Counteract Illegal Trafficking of Nuclear, Radioactive and Other Materials that Pose an Increased Danger

Abstract

The article assesses the threats to the national security of the country associated with the use of nuclear, radioactive and other materials for terrorist purposes, including the use of modern information technologies. The classification of various types of terrorism is given, based on the analysis of the features that characterize this crime. Its criminal-legal characteristics are considered. The danger of religious, political and “state cyberterrorism”, which has been gaining popularity in recent times, is emphasized to destabilize the functioning of various critical infrastructure facilities, including arsenals of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear power plants, nuclear waste storage facilities, etc. A system of interdepartmental counteraction to the smuggling of potent, poisonous, explosive, radioactive substances, radiation sources, nuclear materials and other objects that can be used by intruders for criminal purposes. The exceptional importance of protecting the state and customs borders of the Russian Federation, as well as the entire Eurasian Economic Union, is noted in order to exclude the possible import into and export from the country of substances and materials intended for the manufacture of technical devices that pose an increased danger from the point of view of a terrorist threat. Particular attention is focused on the powers in this area of the customs authorities. It is concluded that within the framework of interstate cooperation in the fight against smuggling of nuclear, radioactive and other materials that pose an increased danger from the point of view of a terrorist threat, it is necessary to unify the criminal, criminal procedural and operational-search legislation of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union.