Probable Economic Targets for Terrorism by Radiological Attack: Radiological Dispersal Devices, Dirty Bombs, Nuclear Radioactive Materials, Targets, Refinery, Port, Airport, Food Storage, Retail

This excellent report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. Although there have been no successful terrorist attacks within the United States since 11 September 2001, many terrorism experts believe that another is likely to occur in the near future. There have been a number of foiled attacks in the intervening years, some large in scale and others small, including plans to attack airport fuel pipelines, detonate a radiological dispersal device, and explode as many as 12 airliners over five U.S. cities. Whether originating within the U.S. or abroad, terrorists continue to seek opportunities to strike targets in America. They also show a trend of increasing sophistication to defeat security practices already implemented since 9/11. The binary liquid explosive plot originating in Britain and plans by Al Qaeda-associated terrorist Jose Padilla to use a "dirty bomb" illustrate this trend. This latter example is the most frightening, as Al Qaeda has expressed the intent to acquire and use nuclear devices within the United States. Osama bin Laden stated unequivocally in a December 1998 interview that "there is a duty on Muslims to acquire them." The acquisition by terrorists of components for a nuclear bomb, or a complete weapon, is obviously a grave security concern. Terrorists may encounter difficulties in obtaining, fashioning, transporting and detonating a nuclear bomb. Some have suggested that if Al Qaeda possessed a nuclear bomb then it would have already have been used against the U.S.; others believe that the terrorists may be waiting patiently for a date of significance to them or their movement to use such a device. However, there are other methods of nuclear attack which are simpler, less expensive and almost as psychologically effective as detonating a nuclear bomb. The use of radioactive materials against various soft targets offers these advantages to terrorists, making a radiological attack the most likely major terrorism strike against the U.S. in the near future.

The common misconception about nuclear terrorism is that it invariably will involve the explosion of a stolen or crudely-fashioned nuclear bomb. While it is possible that Al Qaeda or some other terrorist group has obtained an intact nuclear warhead or the fissile material to make their own Hiroshima-type weapon, it is far easier to obtain the materials for a radiological dispersal device. Often called a 'dirty bomb', a radiological dispersal device (RDD) is designed to spread radioactive material over a wide area, rendering it unsafe for human use. An RDD may employ explosives to spread the material, but the blast damage is incidental to the radioactive dispersal.

Biography * Introduction * Radiological Dispersal Devices * Psychological Impacts * An Economic Awakening * Economic targets for an RDD attack * Target class #1 - Petroleum refinery * Target class #2 - Port facility * Target class #3 - Major airport * Target class #4 - Food storage * Target class #5 - Retail sector * Consequences of an RDD Attack * Consequence Management * Preventing the Five Scenarios * Conclusion * Footnotes