On October 6, 2005, the Al-Qaeda Jihadi website al-Fardaws published the “Nuclear Preparation Encyclopedia.” The encyclopedia is a multi-chapter collection compiled and posted by a Jihadi activist Layth al-Islam (Lion of Islam) who claims, “I have been studying nuclear physics for two years on various scientific and Jihadi websites” and that his posting is “a present to the Amir [Captain] of the Mujahideen Sheikh Usama Bin Laden, God bless him, for the Jihad in the path of God.” The aim of the posting, he continues, is to empower the Jihadi community with knowledge of nuclear weapons.

The posting is largely an historical survey of nuclear technology, including explanation of nuclear experiments and mention of important nuclear pioneers, such as Enrico Fermi. The posting also includes various diagrams and sketches said to be of early nuclear warheads used against Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Little Boy and Fat Man) and detailed explanations of nuclear gun type and implosion devices. Some sketches purport to detail the make-up of nuclear weapons, critical mass, and the amount of needed fissile and other materials used in their construction. The material was also posted on a second Jihadi website al-Farouq on October 9, which included links to the same information and diagrams.

This posting may be worthy of attention because it reveals an increase in the understanding of nuclear technology by the Jihadi community. Unlike previous nuclear postings on Al-Qaeda websites, which were amateurish, void of scientific knowledge, and poorly written, this posting includes detailed information concerning the technical operation and composition of nuclear weapons. Most importantly, it includes sketches and diagrams of nuclear weapon designs, measurements of warheads and amounts of necessary fissile material. It is not possible to assess the accuracy of these materials in an unclassified document. However, this posting does not provide the would-be Jihadi with a step-by-step blueprint for the manufacture of nuclear weapons, compared to the reportedly detailed warhead design given to Libya by Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan.

Steps are outlined, however, for extraction of radium and assembly of a radium bomb, which the author erroneously claims can yield a nuclear explosion, but which, in fact, would amount to a radiological dispersion device (RDD) or “dirty bomb.”

All the information presented by the author is readily available in open sources, but he appears to be the first Al-Qaeda sympathizer to collect this information and translate it into Arabic. This posting was apparently aimed at increasing the scientific awareness and building the knowledge base of the Jihadi community, as stated by the author, “I believe that the strategic balance of power on the battlefield will not change for the Mujahideen without correct scientific progress.”

SOURCES: Editorial note: Shortly following its publication, the links to this nuclear encyclopedia were disabled.