nuclear-news

What if terrorists unleashed a dirty bomb, or even a small nuclear bomb, on a city?

Bulletin of Atomic Scientists 21st Feb 2018, As seen by recent events such as the bombing in Manchester, UK, terrorism  can occur anywhere, at any time. So far, the terrorist incidents have been
relatively low-tech – such as improvised explosive devices detonating
inside pressure cookers, trucks driving down crowded sidewalks, or bombs
exploding in backpacks containing metal bolts and screws.

But what if terrorists were to build a dirty bomb that contained radioactive materials
instead of bits of metal shrapnel, and set it off in a major city? Or,
worse, what if they managed to build a fully functioning nuclear weapon,
cart it to the downtown of a city, and then detonate it – even a small,
rudimentary one that was much smaller than the atomic bomb dropped on
Hiroshima?

What would the social, economic, and political impacts of the
successful terrorist use of a nuclear weapon look like? What planning has
the international community done for such an event?
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00963402.2018.1436812

April 9, 2018 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general