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Russian officials today announced that the arrest of a man attempting to sell weapons grade uranium. That's right, the type of uranium used in a nuclear bomb. In reply, American officials attempted to reassure the public by stating that the amount of uranium offered for sale was less than that required to create a nuclear warhead. It is of note that they did not deny that this was in fact weapons grade uranium.
Intelligence officials, terrorist and response experts, and those of us in the disaster medicine community have long feared the verification that weapons grade uranium is available on the terrorist market.
While government officials attempt to placate appropriately concerned citizens with the platitude "it's too little to make a nuclear bomb", anybody who has put together a Thanksgiving dinner knows that if you can't get enough sweet potatoes at one store you just go to another. The terrorists are not stupid and little bit of weapons grade uranium here, a little bit more there and soon they have the critical mass to actually achieve critical mass. Then there is the claim of the seller that the sample in his possession represented a much larger quantity.
Nuclear events come in two forms known as criticality and non-criticality.
A non-criticality event is when radiation is released without a fission or fusion detonation. In short, the event is local. Dirty bombs fall into this category. Most of the radiation comes from direct contact or direct exposure to the source. There have been some very large non-criticality events around the world usually a result of improperly discarded radiation sources from medicine or industry.
Criticality events have always been the result of the action of large governments. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were criticality events. The recent nuclear testing in North Korea was a criticality event. The great fears of the Cold War were not a fear of non-criticality radiation but a criticality event and its associated gamma radiation and fallout.
The intelligence community has proven that the terrorists have the ability to get weapons grade uranium. Now we must add criticality events and the hazards that come from them to our list of concerns both for national security as well as disaster medical response.
The lessons of the Cold War, at least those that deal with preparing for the hazards of criticalities must now be dusted off and added to the 2007 standards of care.
Will there be a criticality event within the United States?
Will somebody set off a nuclear or thermonuclear device as a terrorist statement?
As we prepare for this possibility let us all hope that those charged with our security will continue to have the success that they announced today.
Intelligence officials, terrorist and response experts, and those of us in the disaster medicine community have long feared the verification that weapons grade uranium is available on the terrorist market.
While government officials attempt to placate appropriately concerned citizens with the platitude "it's too little to make a nuclear bomb", anybody who has put together a Thanksgiving dinner knows that if you can't get enough sweet potatoes at one store you just go to another. The terrorists are not stupid and little bit of weapons grade uranium here, a little bit more there and soon they have the critical mass to actually achieve critical mass. Then there is the claim of the seller that the sample in his possession represented a much larger quantity.
Nuclear events come in two forms known as criticality and non-criticality.
A non-criticality event is when radiation is released without a fission or fusion detonation. In short, the event is local. Dirty bombs fall into this category. Most of the radiation comes from direct contact or direct exposure to the source. There have been some very large non-criticality events around the world usually a result of improperly discarded radiation sources from medicine or industry.
Criticality events have always been the result of the action of large governments. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were criticality events. The recent nuclear testing in North Korea was a criticality event. The great fears of the Cold War were not a fear of non-criticality radiation but a criticality event and its associated gamma radiation and fallout.
The intelligence community has proven that the terrorists have the ability to get weapons grade uranium. Now we must add criticality events and the hazards that come from them to our list of concerns both for national security as well as disaster medical response.
The lessons of the Cold War, at least those that deal with preparing for the hazards of criticalities must now be dusted off and added to the 2007 standards of care.
Will there be a criticality event within the United States?
Will somebody set off a nuclear or thermonuclear device as a terrorist statement?
As we prepare for this possibility let us all hope that those charged with our security will continue to have the success that they announced today.
