ABSTRACT
Science and Technology Challenges in National Security:
Proliferation and Unconventional Weapons
As recently as the past decade, most people were unfamiliar with the term “weapons of mass destruction (WMD)”; albeit the origin of this phrase can be traced back to more than half a century ago. Over the last few years, the public has been exposed to countless reports and an abundance of media coverage on WMD, resulting in a significant concern over public security, safety and health.
The FBI’s WMD mission is critical and essential for our country’s public safety and national security. The first step toward understanding what we do is to define WMD, which is based on legal statutes. For our purpose, WMD is defined as a weapon containing chemical, biological, radiological or special nuclear materials designed to cause death or injury. The threat of WMD is a complex issue; not just in the discussion of how to detect, deter, and defend against their use, but also in the difference between the devices, technology, and processes needed to obtain and use these weapons. Considering the unique scientific and investigative challenges posed by weapons of mass destruction, the WMD program at the FBI was created to develop and execute an integrated approach to deny access to WMD materials and technologies, prevent WMD attacks, and respond to WMD threats and incidents.
A critical and challenging component of this mission is to detect and disrupt the acquisition or use of WMD. In addition, preparedness for these events and our ability to respond to WMD incidents present a dilemma in that chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear materials/events are distinctive in character, response requirements, and potential consequences. Hence, significant expertise is required to effectively support the FBI’s responsibility and to create an organizational structure that ensures a systematic, coordinated, and effective national approach to preventing and responding to the threat of WMD.
In this presentation the roles, responsibilities and capabilities of the FBI will be highlighted. Additionally, the role of scientific analysis and approach will be discussed with regard to our daily case work
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Vahid Majidi – Assistant Director, Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate
Dr. Majidi was appointed by Director Mueller to serve as the Assistant Director for the Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate. The Directorate is responsible for coordinating and managing FBI’s equities, activities, and investigations involving WMD. Specifically, the Directorate is charged with developing and executing an integrated approach to deny access to WMD materials and technologies, prevent WMD attacks, and respond to WMD threats and incidents.
Dr. Majidi comes to FBI from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), where he served as the Chemistry Division Leader. The Chemistry Division at LANL is a premier scientific organization with extensive research capabilities essential to national security and civilian research programs. Chemistry Division’s strategic programs included nuclear weapons-related research, non/counter-proliferation, homeland security, isotope science, applied energy, and nanoscale science and engineering.
In 2003, Dr. Majidi was appointed by the Deputy Attorney General to serve as the Chief Science Advisor to the Department of Justice. Dr. Majidi was detailed from LANL to the Department of Justice, and he was responsible for coordinating science and technology policy among the Department’s component agencies and with state and local law enforcement entities. He served as the lead Department representative for biosecurity, pathogen forensics, DNA technologies, biometrics programs and as the liaison to the scientific community.
Prior to his career at LANL, Dr. Majidi was a tenured associate professor of chemistry at the University of Kentucky. His research activities were focused on analytical spectroscopy and gas-phase chemistry.
Dr. Majidi earned his BS degree in chemistry from Eastern Michigan University and his PhD degree from Wayne State University. After his graduate work, he spent two years as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Texas (Austin).
Dr. Majidi has published numerous scientific articles in peer reviewed journals, and he has served on editorial boards for several international journals
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