Estimation of health hazards resulting from a radiological terrorist attack in a city.
In recent years, the concern for protection of urban populations against terror attacks involving radiological, biological or chemical substances has attracted increasing attention. It sets new demands to decision support and consequence assessment tools, where the focus has traditionally been on accidental exposure. The aim of the present study was to illustrate issues that need to be considered in evaluating the radiological consequences of a 'dirty bomb' explosion. This is done through a worked example of simplified calculations of relative dose contributions for a specific 'dirty bomb' scenario leading to atmospheric dispersion of 90Sr contamination over a city area. Also, the requirements of atmospheric dispersion models for such scenarios are discussed.
Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Technical University of Denmark, PO Box 49, DK-4000, Roskilde, Denmark. kasper.andersson@risoe.dk
K G
KG
Andersson
T
T
Mikkelsen
P
P
Astrup
S
S
Thykier-Nielsen
L H
LH
Jacobsen
L
L
Schou-Jensen
S C
SC
Hoe
S P
SP
Nielsen
D000465:Algorithms; D054042:Bombs; D015386:Hazardous Substances; D006801:Humans; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000379:methods*; D018788:Radioactive Hazard Release; D012307:Risk Factors; D012867:Skin / Q000528:radiation effects; D023481:Terrorism
D015386:Hazardous Substances