This document discusses nuclear and dirty bomb threats facing the United States. It outlines that the largest nuclear threats are other nuclear powers like Russia, China, and North Korea. A dirty bomb attack is considered a bigger threat, as terrorist groups could more easily obtain radioactive material and detonate a bomb to contaminate an area. The document reviews past dirty bomb attempts and the U.S. response plan involving treatment, containment, and cleanup procedures in case of such an attack. Maintaining control over radioactive materials and preparing response teams are seen as key to addressing the dirty bomb threat.

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Michael Maharidge
INT 250I
Dr. Krutky
18 February 2016
Nuclear Weapons Briefing
Threat:
The biggest nuclear threat against the United States today would be the nuclear
stockpile, capabilities and intentions of nuclear powers such as Russia, China, India, Pakistan,
Iran, North Korea. These countries have the capabilities to create a nuclear weapon and
potentially launch a nuclear strike against the United States, but the likelihood of that
happening is unlikely. If one of these nuclear powers were to launch a nuclear weapon at the
United States, the United States would launch a nuclear counter strike in response assuring
destruction on both sides. The Mutually Assured Destruction doctrine (MAD) was an agreement
between the United States and Russia. The doctrine is basically the understanding of both
parties that a nuclear strike against each other would result in the assured destruction of both
nations and could even lead to global extinction. Almost every nuclear power in the world
understands the devastation nuclear war could potentially cause and these nations tend to use
nuclear force as a defensive deterrence strategy to deter other nuclear powers from attacking.
However, the biggest national security concern for the United States today would be dirty
bombs. If a terrorist or extremist group were to obtain enriched uranium or cesiumand create

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a dirty bomb, they could potentially smuggle it into the United States and execute a horrific
terror attack. “A dirty bomb is one type of a radiological dispersal device (RDD) that combines
conventional explosives, such as dynamite, with radioactive material” (U.S.NRC). A dirty bomb
attack would not only kill or injure the people within its blast zone, but would also contaminate
the area around with radioactive fallout. Radioactive fallout would pollute the air with
radioactive material that could cause major burns, illness, long term side effects and could even
cause prolonged death depending on the amount of radioactive material the population was
exposed to. The evacuation of a community and the cleanup would be a long and expensive
procedure that would be devastating to an entire community.
Background
“A dirty bomb is in no way similar to a nuclear weapon or nuclear bomb. A nuclear
bomb creates an explosion that is millions of times more powerful than that of a dirty bomb.
The cloud of radiation from a nuclear bomb could spread tens to hundreds of square miles,
whereas a dirty bomb’s radiation could be dispersed within a few blocks or miles of the
explosion. A dirty bomb is not a “Weapon of Mass Destruction” but a “Weapon of Mass
Disruption,” where contamination and anxiety are the terrorists’ major objectives.” (U.S.RNC)
The first ever attempt to radiological terror with the use of a dirty bomb was by a group
of Chechen rebels. The Chechen rebels contacted a Russian television station and announced
that they had the capability to construct a radioactive bomb. The rebels continued to talk about
an unspecified amount of radioactive material that they had buried in the Ismailovsky Park by

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Moscow. Search teams went to the spot indicated by the rebel group and sure enough they
found a buried container of cesium. The source of the cesium and the person who buried the
radioactive material were never found. The second dirty bomb attempt was by a Briton, Dhiren
Barot, had planned to build a dirty bomb out of 10,000 smoke detectors and fixed each up with
a small radioactive source. His goal was to conduct an attack on London, but instead was
discovered, caught and sentenced to life in prison.
Although there hasn’t been a successful terrorist attack with the use of a dirty bomb
yet, you can see how close we have come to it happening.
Current Status:
Currently the United States is conducting a plan of action on how to handle a dirty bomb
attack. It starts by keeping a closer eye on where radioactive material is and where it’s going.
This will keep radioactive material from falling into the hands of extremist groups and terrorists.
The United States has created antidotes to deal with chemical agents and they’re
distributed to the emergency response teams. Victims who were close enough to the dirty
bomb explosion and become contaminated with radioactive exposure or fallout can be treated
on the spot and quarantined away from the danger zone. Training programs equip and train
rapid response teams that specialize in handling the event of a dirty bomb attack. Using
HAZMAT suits and respirators, they can enter the contaminated area and start treating the
victims during evacuation. Once the area is evacuated they can contain the radioactive material
by using the FLIR Systems’ FIDO C2, which is sprayed onto the contaminated surface to reveal

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specific nerve agents and sulfur mustard within 5 minutes. This allows a faster and more
efficient ways of decontamination operations.
Key Considerations
Due to the uprising of Muslim extremism, terrorist organizations and the destabilization
in the Middle East, terrorism has become one of the biggest national security threats against
the United States today. ISIS for example, has proven to be a major concern as they ruthlessly
fight to gain power and control of the Middle East. Hypothetically speaking if ISIS were to fight
their way into and gain control of Pakistan, they would inherit Pakistan’s nuclear launch
capabilities. Under these circumstances, ISIS would most certainly attempt a nuclear attack on
the United States and/or its UN allies if they could figure out how to use the equipment or
obtain the launch codes. This hypothetical situation is a bit far-fetched, but does and will cause
concern to the United States national security. However, the most likely situation would be a
terrorist attack on the United States with the use of a Dirty bomb. It is very important that
everything coming into our country is inspected thoroughly to prevent terrorists from
smuggling dirty bombs into the United States. We must consider these threats and prepare a
response team that’s trained to handle any CBRN attacks properly to ensure resilience, clean up
and rebuilding in the timeliest fashion. If we prepare well enough, we can contain the issue
while minimizing casualties, contamination and anxiety.

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Works Cited
1. Acton, James M., M. Brooke Rogers, and Peter D. Zimmerman. "Beyond The Dirty Bomb:
Re-Thinking Radiological Terror." Survival (00396338) 49.3 (2007): 151-168. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
2. Fact Sheet on Dirty Bombs. (2014, December 12). Retrieved February 18, 2016, from
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/fs-dirty-bombs.html
3. Oppenheimer, Andy. "The Heartlands Of Chemical Warfare." Military Technology 39.11
(2015): 46-50. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
4. N., Krock, L., & Deusser, R. (n.d.). Chronology of Dirty Bomb Events. Retrieved February
18, 2016, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/dirtybomb/chrono.html