hrvatski

Koliko su opasne "prljave bombe"

A radiological weapon (or a radiation weapon)is any weapon thart is designed to spread radioactivity, either to kill, or to deny the use of an area (a modern version of salting the earth) and consosts of a device (such as a nuclear or conventional explosive), which spreads radioactive material. Recently, it hhas been clled "dirty bombs". This term refers especially to a weapon that would disperse radioactive material through conventional explosives. the term was put in focus in June 2002, when US officials announced they had captured an al-Qaida terrorist in Chicago who was allegodly planning for such a device. Designd to produce radiation sickness in a military force or a civilian population instead of destroying a target, Iraq developed and tested radiation weapons in 1980s, duringthe war with Iran with intention to produce health effects that would be difficult to explain. The project was abandoned because a radiation levels low enough to escape detection were also insufficient to cause significant medical problems in the weeks following an attack. Radiological weapons are therefore widely consideredto be militarily useless for a state-sposored army and are not believed to have been deployed by any military forces. However, these weapons have been suggested as a possible terror weapon in order to create fear and panic in densely populated areas and havoc to local economies.They do not require weapons-grade materials, and common material such is 137Cs used in radiological medical equipment, could be used. Subsequent removal of urban radioactive contamination, i.e. cleanup efforts according to experiences from the radiological accident in a Brazilian city of Goiania could be long, difficult and costly. Therefore, the overall effects of exploded dirty bombs are hard to assess considering that: a) the health effects of low-level radiation are hotly ontested. Namely, according to "linear, no-threshold" dosimetric model, any increase over background is dangerous, contrary to the "threshold" model, according to which small or even moderate increases in background radiation may be safe. b) National and international radiation safety organizations set differing safety levels. c) The bigger the conventional bomb that distributes the radioactive material, the better it will disperse. Thus for a given amount of a particular isotope, a smaller explosion will expose a few people to a higher dose. A larger explosion will expose more people to a lower dose. d) A steady wind will carry the radiation in one direction. A changing wind will spread it more widely, increasing the affected area and population, but reducing the individual dose. e) The higher the radiation in the bomb, the better the chance it will be detected before detonation. Many relatively low cost practical steps can be taken to reduce risks from radiological weapons and minimize the effects if an attack should occur. The first step is ensuring that the radioactive materials are safe, secure and out of reach of possible terrorists. The coherent response plan should be prepared in advance. Ability to detect lost and stolen materials should be developed. Radiation detection devuces should be installed on key points such as frontier passages, airports etc. Training of population and experts should be continuously implemented etc.

radiološko oružje; radioaktivni materijal; redukcija rizika

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