Terrorism and Radiological Dispersal Device

Recently, dirty bomb has been a threat, as a means the terrorists might use to attack citizens, since it is easier to design compared to the nuclear bomb and has a fatal effect on a population. This essay will cover the topic of dirty bombs and its effects. Introduction Globally there has been increased interest in the challenges of radiation and nuclear terrorism. The availability of radioactive materials and scientific simplicity of their making was realized in the dirty bomb. The fear of terrorists’ militia utilizing dirty bombs rose and has been reported regularly through media. They are created to utilize explosive forces to scatter radioactive materials around a huge place like many city blocks. Across the world, there are numerous sources of radioactive materials which are not safe and neither accounted for.

Terrorist groups and rogue nations can get these materials for dirty bombs. A dirty bomb is often confused with nuclear explosions like fission bomb, that produces a blast effect through releasing nuclear energy. A dirty bomb operates very different and cannot produce an atomic explosion, rather it uses explosives to disperse radioactive smoke, dust, and other materials to create a radioactive contamination. It collects radiological data like deposition and plume predictions, current meteorological conditions, assurance of data quality, dox projection and exposure rates, weather forecast, and ground and air concentration. FRMAC produces the findings of the information gathered, assessments, evaluation, and analysis to the critical decisions makers in the contaminated places; U. S. Department of Defense (DOD) including Navy, Marines, Army, Air Force and Coast Guards; U.

S. This should entail a clear evacuation strategy; Fourth, fire safety, every place of work must have fire prevention and safety training and measures; Fifth, exit routes, all workstations should have clearly indicated exits that comply with exit routes guidelines of OSHA (Wu et al 2008). Sixth, machinery safety, employees working with potentially harmful machinery should be properly trained in accordance with OSHA requirements. Additionally, all the machinery should be frequently inspected for wear and tear that can threaten employee safety, as well as potential gas or chemical leaks which will expose employees’ health to harm; Seventh, working/walking Surfaces, slide, and fall are the most common injuries in places of work and therefore employers should ensure that their walking and working surface comply with OSHA requirements.

They are applicable to aisles, ladders, staircase, floors, platforms and any other working surface; Eight, first aid, all the workstation should be equipped properly with enough medical supplies to handle any emergency that might happen around the workstation. This might involve CPR training; and Finally, biohazards, all biohazards should be handled in accordance with OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogen standards. Finally, in the late stage, the decision of continued decontamination and other dose-minimization methods should be applied (Ring 2008). The predicted dose for comparison in the early and intermediate stage protective instructions are for the people who were slightly affected by the detonation while predicted dose for comparison in the late stage (recovery) is for those were very close to detonation and were highly affected.

How Radioactive Materials can be Secured. The usage of radioactive material is controls by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) the for the purpose of securing individuals and the environment against their hazardous effect. Material licensees have the basic responsibility to keep the accountability and security of the radioactive material in their ownership (Bunn & Braun 2003). Moreover, the NNSA cooperates with the radioactive device producers to strengthen their products against tempering. All these requirements make up the basis of NRC’s determination to make sure that radioactive materials are safe and can be utilized to benefit the society. Related Safety and Health Topics. Apart from effects of dirty bombs, radiation may be caused through use of radioactive materials, electronic products (radio frequency, microwave, lasers), natural resources (sunlight, ultraviolet or background radiation), or irradiating apparatus.