Difference between revisions of "Radiological dispersal device"
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If the bomb was placed in a subway, and people spent 2 hours on it, anyone within 2.5 feet of the device will likely die, and sickness would occur within 12 feet. Cleanup would be very hard. You would have to recover all of the 500 Ci after the explosion. It would likely never be clean again. The death toll would be in the hundreds, the injury toll in the thousands, and the people exposed in the tens of thousands. While no incidents have occurred where it was intentional, the Goiania incident was an accident, and the source's activity was around 1375 Ci. Lots of deaths and injuries resulted from it. | If the bomb was placed in a subway, and people spent 2 hours on it, anyone within 2.5 feet of the device will likely die, and sickness would occur within 12 feet. Cleanup would be very hard. You would have to recover all of the 500 Ci after the explosion. It would likely never be clean again. The death toll would be in the hundreds, the injury toll in the thousands, and the people exposed in the tens of thousands. While no incidents have occurred where it was intentional, the Goiania incident was an accident, and the source's activity was around 1375 Ci. Lots of deaths and injuries resulted from it. | ||
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| + | ==Dirty bomb threats== | ||
| + | ===Chechnya=== | ||
| + | In November 1995 a “dirty bomb” comprised of high explosives and cesium was uncovered in Moscow’s Ismailovsky Park, and in December 1998 another cache of radioactive material was found attached to an explosive charge near a railroad track in Chechnya. Both devices were disarmed by Russian security forces.<ref>https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/dirtybomb/chrono.html</ref> | ||
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| + | ===Jose Padilla=== | ||
| + | In May 2002 F.B.I. agents arrested Jose Padilla, an American citizen who converted to Islam, as he returned to the United States from a trip that took him to [[Egypt]], [[Pakistan]], and eventually [[Afghanistan]], where, sometime in 1999-2000, he allegedly met with Abu Zubaydah, [[Osama Bin Laden]]’s operations chief. According to Zubaydeh, he and Padilla discussed the possibility of Padilla building and detonating a “dirty bomb” inside the U.S. | ||
| + | |||
| + | While [[Al Qaeda]] had apparently drafted plans for such a weapon — and in fact had accumulated radioactive medical isotopes for use in a “dirty bomb” (these materials were seized by the U.N. in 2002) — none of this information was shared with Padilla, who arrived in the U.S. with neither a weapon design nor means to accomplish the task. He was tried and convicted, nonetheless. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Iraq=== | ||
| + | In 1987 [[Iraq]] built and tested four devices designed to spread a cloud of radioactive dust for the express purpose of killing humans in the ongoing [[Iran-Iraq war]]. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The device — an air-dropped bomb measuring 12 feet in length and weighing more than a ton — was, according to documents turned over by Iraq to United Nations inspectors,<ref>https://consortiumnews.com/2022/10/25/scott-ritter-russias-dirty-bomb-scare/</ref> intended to be dropped on troop areas, industrial centers, airports, railroad stations, bridges and “any other areas the command decrees.” | ||
| + | |||
| + | According to the document, the bomb was intended to induce radiation sickness which would “weaken enemy units from the standpoint of health and inflict losses that would be difficult to explain, possibly producing a psychological effect.” Death, the document noted, would occur “within two to six weeks.” | ||
| + | |||
| + | The Iraqis chose zirconium as their radioactive source. The Iraqis had zirconium in quantities due to its use in incendiary weapons. By irradiating zirconium flakes in the Iraqi nuclear reactor located in Tuwaitha, the Iraqis produced the radioactive isotope Zirconium 95, which had a half-life of 75.5 days, meaning the bomb would have to be used soon after it was manufactured. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The weapon was tested three times in 1987, including a final test involving two actual “dirty bombs” dropped by aircraft. The weapons were a bust, loosing their radioactive properties shortly after detonation. In fact, one would need to stand within ten feet of the point of detonation of the bomb to absorb a lethal dose of radiation, something the high explosive charge of the bomb itself made moot. | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Revision as of 20:03, October 25, 2022
A radiological dispersal device (RDD), or dirty bomb, is a bomb designed to disperse radioactive material.
It is generally comprised of non-nuclear explosives with radioactive waste material inside. Such RDDs appeal to terrorists or non-nuclear states because they require limited technical knowledge to build and deploy compared to an explosive nuclear device. The size of the affected area and the level of destruction caused by an RDD would depend on the sophistication and size of the conventional delivery system and other factors. The area affected could be placed off-limits to the public indefinitely during cleanup efforts.
People who walk near the bomb before it explodes would be irradiated. If they get within 1 inch of a bomb containing 500 Ci of cesium-137 for 15 seconds, they would receive a dose of 9.16 Sieverts, which would have a 90% chance of killing the person.
If the bomb was placed in a subway, and people spent 2 hours on it, anyone within 2.5 feet of the device will likely die, and sickness would occur within 12 feet. Cleanup would be very hard. You would have to recover all of the 500 Ci after the explosion. It would likely never be clean again. The death toll would be in the hundreds, the injury toll in the thousands, and the people exposed in the tens of thousands. While no incidents have occurred where it was intentional, the Goiania incident was an accident, and the source's activity was around 1375 Ci. Lots of deaths and injuries resulted from it.
Dirty bomb threats
Chechnya
In November 1995 a “dirty bomb” comprised of high explosives and cesium was uncovered in Moscow’s Ismailovsky Park, and in December 1998 another cache of radioactive material was found attached to an explosive charge near a railroad track in Chechnya. Both devices were disarmed by Russian security forces.[1]
Jose Padilla
In May 2002 F.B.I. agents arrested Jose Padilla, an American citizen who converted to Islam, as he returned to the United States from a trip that took him to Egypt, Pakistan, and eventually Afghanistan, where, sometime in 1999-2000, he allegedly met with Abu Zubaydah, Osama Bin Laden’s operations chief. According to Zubaydeh, he and Padilla discussed the possibility of Padilla building and detonating a “dirty bomb” inside the U.S.
While Al Qaeda had apparently drafted plans for such a weapon — and in fact had accumulated radioactive medical isotopes for use in a “dirty bomb” (these materials were seized by the U.N. in 2002) — none of this information was shared with Padilla, who arrived in the U.S. with neither a weapon design nor means to accomplish the task. He was tried and convicted, nonetheless.
Iraq
In 1987 Iraq built and tested four devices designed to spread a cloud of radioactive dust for the express purpose of killing humans in the ongoing Iran-Iraq war.
The device — an air-dropped bomb measuring 12 feet in length and weighing more than a ton — was, according to documents turned over by Iraq to United Nations inspectors,[2] intended to be dropped on troop areas, industrial centers, airports, railroad stations, bridges and “any other areas the command decrees.”
According to the document, the bomb was intended to induce radiation sickness which would “weaken enemy units from the standpoint of health and inflict losses that would be difficult to explain, possibly producing a psychological effect.” Death, the document noted, would occur “within two to six weeks.”
The Iraqis chose zirconium as their radioactive source. The Iraqis had zirconium in quantities due to its use in incendiary weapons. By irradiating zirconium flakes in the Iraqi nuclear reactor located in Tuwaitha, the Iraqis produced the radioactive isotope Zirconium 95, which had a half-life of 75.5 days, meaning the bomb would have to be used soon after it was manufactured.
The weapon was tested three times in 1987, including a final test involving two actual “dirty bombs” dropped by aircraft. The weapons were a bust, loosing their radioactive properties shortly after detonation. In fact, one would need to stand within ten feet of the point of detonation of the bomb to absorb a lethal dose of radiation, something the high explosive charge of the bomb itself made moot.
See also
References
https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/emergencies/pdf/Infographic_Radiological_Dispersal_Device.pdf
http://radprocalculator.com/Gamma.aspx was used to calculate dose rate.