Stuxnet Could Trigger Atomic Calamity, Intel Report Warns

01 February 2011

GLOBAL SECURITY NEWSWIRE (WASHINGTON) - A non-U.S. intelligence report stated Monday, January 31st, 2011, that the Stuxnet worm that affected Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant could trigger a calamity similar to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. The report states the operating reactor (Bushehr), would have the power of a "small nuclear bomb" and the "minimum possible damage would be meltdown of the reactor" if Stuxnet compromised its controls. A conflicting response from an expert who analyzed the effect of the Stuxnet worm on the Siemens controls system said something like Stuxnet could not trigger a thermonuclear reaction. Source: http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20110201_5933.php (Reliability: 46.04 - Moderate)

Comment:
Reports regarding the effect of Stuxnet have been mixed since the initial attack. The source of the worm has not been revealed and Iran has not been entirely straightforward in how much the attack affected the Bushehr nuclear power plant.