Ten Dangerous Scenarios

Attack a nuclear plant

Cripple the
Transportation System

Destroy the
Fort Peck Dam

Detonate a suitcase bomb

Attack the Alaska pipeline

Contaminate a ventilation system

Cut off power to
a major city

Shoot down
Air Force One

Attack a chemical factory

Destroy a stadium

>> See the entire list <<

Scenario: Detonate a dirty bomb in an urban area

Scenario

Build a radiological weapon (also known as a dirty bomb) and detonate it in a major urban area.

Description

A radiological or "dirty" bomb is a conventional bomb wrapped with nuclear material. The nuclear material might be spent nuclear fuel, but nearly any nuclear material will do. The conventional bomb could be anything from one stick of dynamite up to a truck bomb.

The idea behind a dirty bomb is contamination. When the bomb explodes, it spreads nuclear waste over the blast area.

According to this article: "The consensus government view is now that al-Qaeda probably has acquired the lower-level radionuclides strontium 90 and cesium 137, many thefts of which have been documented in recent years. These materials cannot produce a nuclear detonation, but they are radioactive contaminants. Conventional explosives could scatter them in what is known as a radiological dispersion device, colloquially called a 'dirty bomb.' The number of deaths that might result is hard to predict but probably would be modest. One senior government specialist said 'its impact as a weapon of psychological terror' would be far greater."

According to this article:

    "This stuff [strontium 90] can be just ghastly to clean up," said Federation of American Scientists President Henry Kelly, a physicist who testified this month at a Senate hearing on dirty bombs. Such a bomb detonated in a large city could render several blocks uninhabitable, he added.

    There are literally hundreds of places where terrorists could obtain material for such a bomb, including former dumping grounds for medical waste in this country. But the recent discoveries in the former Soviet Union have further heightened international concerns about the possibility of nuclear theft. The RTGs in particular offer high concentrations of radioactivity with minimal controls -- and sometimes no controls, according to officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the nuclear watchdog of the United Nations.

Damage Potential

The damage from a radiological bomb would come from three sources:

  • The damage you would normally get from the conventional bomb. If the dirty bomb is a truck bomb, you get normal truck bomb damage.
  • Radioactive contamination in the blast area. Depending on the nuclear material used, this could leave the blast site with a level of radioactivity that significantly hampers rescue and cleanup operations. The area of contamination would require special treatment and the costs/time of cleanup would be much higher.
  • Psychological damage, because people are very wary of nuclear contamination.

Potential Solutions

Solving the dirty bomb problem is as difficult as solving the car or truck bomb problem. Possible deterrents:

  • Control truck traffic into a city. That will not stop a car bomb or a suitcase bomb, but at least limits the size of the bomb that will be used.
  • Control access to bomb-making chemicals.
  • Control access to nuclear materials.
The ultimate deterrent is to eliminate the people who would do this sort of thing. See Solutions for details.

Related Links


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