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  • Responding to Biological Attacks
    Backgrounder
    Updated: January 2006

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    Updated: January 2006

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  Academic Module: America the Vulnerable: How Our Government Is Failing to Protect Us from Terrorism

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  Responding to Radiation Attacks

  Updated: January 2006

  • Could terrorists use radiation as a weapon?
  • What is radiation?
  • How could a radiological attack expose people to harmful radiation?
  • What would be the initial reaction to such attacks?
  • What health conditions can result from exposure to radiation?
  • What is radiation sickness?

  ---

  Could terrorists use radiation as a weapon?

  Experts say they might, and Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist network has been eager to acquire radioactive material. In the aftermath of September 11, scenarios that have particularly worried homeland security officials include the detonation of a “dirty bomb”—an ordinary explosive laced with radioactive material—and the sabotage of a nuclear power plant with the intent to release radiation into the environment. In May 2002, the United States arrested an alleged al-Qaeda terrorist plotting to build and detonate a dirty bomb.

  What is radiation?

  Radiation is energy in the form of particles or waves. The term “radiation” is commonly used to refer to what scientists call “ionizing radiation,” which is emitted from the nuclei of atoms and is harmful to humans.

  Every day, people are exposed to naturally occurring ionizing radiation from elements in the soil and air, cosmic rays, and even materials in the human body itself. Man-made devices such as X-ray machines and nuclear power plants also generate radiation, although their output is tightly controlled to prevent harm.

  Some forms of radiation—including alpha and beta particles—are harmful only when they are ingested or come into contact with skin, and they can be blocked by something as simple as a sheet of paper or a plate of glass. But “penetrating radiation”—including gamma rays and the neutron radiation produced in nuclear fission—can travel hundreds of yards through the air, penetrate normal walls or floors, and affect the entire human body.

  How could a radiological attack expose people to harmful radiation?

  It can in two ways:

  • One form of attack could spread radiation by placing concentrated, highly radioactive material in a city or by sabotaging a nuclear power plant.
  • A second form of radiological attack could involve spreading radioactive materials with an aerosol spray or a dirty bomb. The dust and debris thrown up by a dirty bomb explosion might land on people’s skin and then be inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through wounds. Victims might also be exposed to radiation from radioactive materials scattered nearby.

  Victims near a dirty bomb attack might also absorb radioactive contaminants into their bodies. Radiation released by radioactive materials inside the body can damage the liver, thyroid, kidneys, and bones, as well as increase a victim’s chances of getting cancer.

  What would be the initial reaction to such attacks?

  To stop the exposure to radiation, victims would have to be decontaminated by removing irradiated clothing, washing the skin, and purging inhaled or ingested materials from inside the body. The surrounding area would also need to be decontaminated to remove radioactive material, prevent radioactive dust and debris from spreading, and protect food and water supplies.

  What health conditions can result from exposure to radiation?

  The exact biological effects of radiation exposure are not fully understood, scientists say. But we do know of two possible effects: the direct damage known as “radiation sickness” and an increased likelihood of developing cancer later on.

  What is radiation sickness?

  The illness takes different forms depending on the degree of exposure.

  • Exposure to up to twenty times the annual background dose of radiation received by the average American would have no discernible effect.
  • Up to 400 times the annual background dose would cause mild changes in the composition of the human blood and some temporary nausea or vomiting.
  • Up to 1,000 times the annual background dose would cause nausea, vomiting, hair loss, reduced immune system function, and serious blood disease.
  • Still higher doses—such as those that would hit unshielded workers inside a catastrophically sabotaged nuclear reactor—could cause severe dehydration, anemia, hemorrhaging, and infections. Such doses would kill 80 percent to 100 percent of the people exposed.

   

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  New CFR Books

  

  In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.

  

  America Between the Wars explores how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.

  

  In The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State, Noah Feldman tells the story behind the increasingly popular call for the establishment of the sharia—the law of the traditional Islamic state—in the modern Muslim world.

  Complete list of CFR Books.

  

  

  New Independent Task Force Reports

  Confronting Climate Change

  This report argues that the United States must lead with domestic action on climate change and proposes a U.S. negotiating strategy for a global UN climate agreement that includes commitments from all major economies, while also promoting a less formal Partnership for Climate Cooperation that would focus the world's largest emitters on implementing aggressive emissions reductions.

  U.S.-Latin America Relations: A New Direction for a New Reality

  This Task Force report examines changes in Latin America and in U.S. influence there, while taking account of the region's enduring importance to the United States. The Task Force offers an agenda for U.S. policy toward Latin America and identifies four critical areas that should provide the basis of a new U.S. approach.

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  New Council Special Reports

  Global FDI Policy

  After two decades of liberalization, many countries around the world are adopting new restrictions on foreign direct investment (FDI) that could retard continued progress. The authors make recommendations for correcting this protectionist drift by proposing guidelines for how countries can better regulate FDI yet still reap its economic benefits.

  Dealing with Damascus

  In this Council Special Report, the authors make a strong case that the Bush administration’s policy of diplomatic isolation of Syria is not serving U.S. interests, and offer informed history and thoughtful analysis of the country and its external behavior.

  Complete list of Council Special Reports.

  

  

  Robert Mugabe's 1987 Article

  • “Struggle for Southern Africa:” In a 1987 Foreign Affairs article, then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe urged international intervention to protect southern Africa.

  

  

  

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