DISASTER! - Homeland Security and Emergency Management ...

ABOUT RADIOLOGICAL THREAT OR DEVICEAlso review NUCLEAR THREAT OR DEVICE (covered next) since itcontains additional information about radiation and e-bombs.Another known terrorist tactic uses explosives on chemical trucks to spreaddeadly fumes. See previous pages covering Chemical Agents.What is a “dirty bomb”?A radiological dispersion device (RDD) - also known as a “dirty bomb” -uses conventional explosives (such as dynamite) to spread radioactivematerials in the form of powder or pellets over a targeted area.A terrorist’s main reasons for using a “dirty bomb” is to cause damage tobuildings, contaminate an area, and spread fear or panic. This type of attackappeals to terrorists since it doesn’t require a lot of technical know-how tobuild and use ... plus low-level radioactive materials are pretty easy toobtain since they are used in many fields like agriculture, research andmedicine.The most harmful, high-level radioactive materials would be found innuclear power plants and at nuclear weapons sites, but with the heightenedstate of alert at many of these locations, it’d be hard for terrorist organizationsto get them within the U.S. Note, nuclear power plant accidents arecovered on pages 72-76 and nukes are covered next.What are the dangers of an RDD (“dirty bomb”)?According to the Center for Disease Control, the primary danger from adirty bomb would be the blast itself - not necessarily the radiation.Knowing how much (if any) radiation might be present at the attack site isdifficult when the source of the radiation is unknown until site is tested.However, since many RDDs use low-level radioactive materials, thereprobably would not be enough radiation to cause severe illness.Has anyone used a “dirty bomb” before?According to a United Nations report, Iraq tested a dirty bomb device in1987 but found the radiation levels were too low to cause significantdamage. Thus, Iraq abandoned any further use of the device. 7What if you or your office receives a “bomb threat”?Bomb threats are usually received by a telephone call or in the mail. It ishighly unlikely a terrorist organization using a “dirty bomb” would giveanyone advance warning or call with a bomb threat, however, in the eventwww.itsadisaster.net or call 1-888-999-4325109