[NYTr] Bridges May Be Falling Down, But Let's Prepare for a Dirty Bomb

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

[Bridges may be collapsing in the Mid-west, but what are they doing
in Chicago?  Playing war games and staging duck & cover drills for a
"dirty bomb."  Isn't Homeland Hysteria wonderful. -NYTr]

sent by tsimonds (activ-l)

BBC News - Aug 2, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6925584.stm


Preparing for a dirty bomb attack

By Frank Gardner
BBC security correspondent, Chicago

The authorities in Britain and the US are preparing for the increasing
possibility of a radiological dirty bomb being detonated by terrorists.

Pagers to detect personal radiation exposure have already been issued to
some ambulance services in Britain.

A dirty bomb would use radioactive material wrapped around conventional
explosive.

Although it is estimated that the inclusion of radioactive isotopes
would cause very few immediate additional casualties there could still
be a major psychological effect, with some people trying to flee the
affected area and local businesses seriously damaged.

In the worst-case scenario, whole areas could be rendered uninhabitable
for up to several months or even years.

But scientists are now developing a number of novel ways of mitigating
the likely effects of a dirty bomb. The aim, they say, is to minimise
the effect on human lives.

"Today we see the use of home-made improvised explosive devices:
tomorrow's threat may include the use of chemicals, bacteriological
agents, radioactive materials and even nuclear technology," Dame Eliza
Manningham-Buller, MI5 Director-General, said in a speech in London last
November.

Intensive research

At the United States' Argonne National Laboratories, hidden behind a
guarded perimeter, scientists in white protective suits burst out of a
van and prepare to spray a fine liquid plastic on to the surface of a
wall.

It is an exercise. The wall has not really been contaminated and the
world has yet to experience a dirty bomb for real.

But emergency planners are now training for when terrorists might one
day detonate a "Radiation Dispersal Device", or RDD.

Left unchecked, its after-effects could contaminate whole streets.
Sandra Bell is an explosives expert at the UK's Royal United Services
Institute.

"The British government are getting increasingly concerned about an
RDD," she says.

"We have a long history of getting prepared and there's been a lot of
research work but it has been escalating over the past few months."

Locking down radioactivity

Over at the Argonne laboratories, scientists are now spraying their
plastic polymer gel on to a wall. Jayne Shelton is President of the
company that developed it.

"The purpose of this coating is to lock down radioactive particulates to
prevent contamination spread," he says.

"The two issues you have with a dirty bomb release are the spread of the
contamination and also the contamination of the public and first
emergency responders.

"Ideally you'd have a fleet of vehicles on the ground that would be
supplied with our coating, have the spray equipment to disperse it over
a large area.

"You'd also have aircraft to spray it on the top of the plume to lock it
down to the surface. And the whole purpose of this being to lock it down
into a solid form such that when the first responders come back in by
foot or by vehicle there's no recontamination."

One of the problems with radioactive contamination is you can't see it.

So many emergency workers fell ill at Chernobyl in 1986 because they did
not realise how badly they were being radiated, in many cases fatally.

But scientists in the US have been working on ways to detect radiation
immediately after a dirty bomb.

The technologies that we have developed will help decrease the panic and
increase the peace of mind and help with the clean-up
Jeff David
Interagency US Technical Support Working Group

Under a bilateral deal, they are sharing their findings with Britain.

One of the more portable devices is the commercially available Sirad
Personal Dosimeter, as explained by Gladys Klemic from the US Department
of Homeland Security.

"You'd carry this like an ID card," she says.

"In situations where there are high levels of radiation this central
rectangle would darken, the blue square can be used as a reference to
see what the radiation levels are.

"If an emergency responder comes to an event and is carrying one of
these he can quickly check and see if he's been exposed to radiation."

Picking up the threat

The ocular scanner is another one of several prototype devices designed
to cope with the aftermath of an RDD.

Its development has been sponsored by the Interagency US Technical
Support Working Group, linked to the defence department.

We asked Jeff David, the group's deputy director, how these devices
would work in a real-life situation.

"If we're in a shopping mall and a bomb goes off, if you were injured
you know it, it's obvious," he says.

"You're bleeding from shrapnel. If it's an RDD, you may have received a
lethal dose but you don't know what you've been exposed to unless you're
properly prepared in advance, and the technologies that we have
developed will help decrease the panic and increase the peace of mind
and help with the clean-up."

Funding battle

Finally, there is the Argonne super gel, a highly absorbent substance
sprayed on to a contaminated building.

It is designed to tackle the most dangerous radioactive materials that
have penetrated right into the concrete.

It literally sucks out the radioactive particles then removes them with
a wet vacuum before they are disposed of as radioactive waste.

In theory, that means a building can be decontaminated in days instead
of waiting weeks or even demolishing it altogether.

But here lies the problem: until terrorists actually detonate a dirty
bomb, the funding for coping for one is thin on the ground.

Some equipment is now being distributed, in both the US and Britain, but
privately scientists question whether it will really be enough to cope
with a full-scale radiological disaster.

DEALING WITH A DIRTY BOMB

Isotron spray

1 Plastic polymer sprayed over radioactive contamination seals it on to
surface, preventing further contamination

2 Hardened gel is then peeled from surface, taking surface contamination
with it

Ocular scanner

3 Detects and identifies degree of contamination and gives a prompt
read-out on screen

Argonne super-absorbent gel

4 Sprayed on contaminated surface and sucks out even deep-seated
radioactive particles

5 Gel retains radioactive material and is removed with a wet vacuum for
disposal

Personal dosimeter

6 Rectangle in centre of device darkens if high radiation levels
detected and indicates extent of contamination

) BBC MMVII