CBRNe is a relatively new concept. CBRNe is short for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and explosives. It is used to refer to incidents or weapons involving any of these five hazards. Before CBRN became common, the term NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) was used to address these types of weapons and their countermeasures, albeit mostly in a military setting. In the military context the threat or risk of radiological weapons was not perceived as very high or likely. Some state actors did experiment with the radiological concept, but no serious programmes are known. The radiological threat became much more relevant when terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda started to express their interest in CBRN weapons. Radiological weapons, for instance, lend themselves perfectly to spreading fear and long-term contamination of buildings or areas. This is why the new acronym CBRN came into being.
The addition of ‘e’ for explosives is the latest extension of the acronym. It reflects a trend in counterterrorism, where professionals dealing with either CBRN or explosives are increasingly joining forces, while operating under a single umbrella. This trend applies to the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service teams as well. They will most likely also be required to address possible CBRN agents. Then there are policymakers and owners of high-risk buildings who are also looking for ways to deal with the terrorist threat as a whole. And this threat consists of both CBRN and explosives, hence CBRNe.
Information about CBRNe within an international context.