The ‘R’ in CBRNe stands for radiological (weapons). The professional history of radioactive weaponry may be traced back to 1943 where it was first mentioned in a memo by Brigadier General Leslie Groves, the primary military leader in charge of the Manhattan project. However, radiological weapons were considered not very useful for military purposes. The discovery of Al-Qaeda plans for a sophisticated version of a ‘dirty bomb’ or Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD) by US intelligence in Afghanistan in January 2003 caused radiological weapons to be considered a significant threat by international intelligence communities.
The international control mechanisms in place for radioactive isotopes for a long time only considered nuclear or fissile material to be dangerous. Dr Abel Gonzalez, former International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director for Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety said in 2004: “Following Hiroshima and Nagasaki there was a big effort in the world to keep nuclear materials like plutonium and uranium, very, very well under control. This has not happened with radioactive material, with low-grade material. It was not felt that this was needed. Everybody knew that you could not do a nuclear weapon with this. Why to have that control?”
The rising threat of RDD’s changed this, and the IAEA now publishes various hazard lists of different radio-isotopes, which are often ranked on a scale from 1 to 5, 1 being the most dangerous substance, 5 much less dangerous.
Different designs of radiological weapons have been mooted but the one that has generated most concern is the RDD, in which a conventional explosive charge is used to disperse radioactive material. Although RDD’s have often been dubbed the ‘poor man’s nuclear weapon’, this term is misleading as a ‘nuclear’ weapon implies a nuclear (fission or fusion) explosion, with immediate and significant destructive effects due to blast and heat. With RDD’s, no chain reaction within a critical mass of fissile material takes place, and the immediate effects are limited to those resulting from the conventional explosive used. The ‘real’ danger of an RDD only becomes apparent much later after the explosion, when the invisible cloud of radiation has spread and, even in small doses, started to create symptomatic radiation effects.
The fact that some radio-isotopes remain active for years or even decades means that following an RDD attack the contaminated areas would have to be cleaned thoroughly before the risk to the public health is decreased to acceptable levels. Depending on the targeted area, this could lead to massive disruptions of normal societal activity and may render facilities such as buildings or public transportation vehicles unusable for months or even years. RDD’s have therefore been called Weapons of Mass Disruption (as opposed to Weapons of Mass Destruction).