![]() That's why politicians should work to dispel this fear, Brill argued. office buildings." But while the casualty and death toll may be limited, dirty bombs could spark considerable panic. Yet even without any evacuation, experts estimated that no more than about 50 people would die following such an attack, Brill wrote - a "casualty rate that could probably be offset by an antismoking campaign in one or two D.C. ![]() could contaminate 40 city blocks and require billions to be spent on nuclear decontamination. Psychological impactĪccording to Brill's research, a dirty bomb detonated by terrorists in central Washington D.C. The real figure, including cases that went undetected or were covered up, could be even higher and Brill accused US politicians of not paying enough attention to this threat. He wrote that in 20, radioactive material had been reported lost or stolen 325 times. In September 2016, on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, US lawyer and journalist Steven Brill published an article in The Atlantic asking whether America had become any safer since the New York bombings. In January 2022, a car bomb caused massive destruction in the Somali capital - a dirty car bomb would have contaminated the area too Image: Feisal Omar/REUTERS Such a bomb, detonated in a densely populated area, would have required a large-scale evacuation and costly clean up, another SWP expert, Gebhard Geiger, said at the time. Both substances could have been used to build dirty car bombs. In 2003, police seized illegal deliveries of radioactive caesium and strontium in Tbilisi and Bangkok. Until now, many considered them to be a weapon that mostly terrorists might deploy. A terrorist weapon?ĭirty bombs are not new. The size of the detonation and strength of radiation determines how much territory may be contaminated and even perhaps rendered temporarily uninhabitable. However in the long run, the radiation emitted can prove hazardous or even lethal, depending on the dosage. In fact, dirty bombs are most dangerous during their initial explosion, Richter said. Dirty bombs have nowhere near the destructive power of a nuclear weapon Image: dpa/picture alliance Nuclear weapons generate deadly heat and waves of pressure as well as extremely dangerous radiation, which spreads over vast areas through wind and rain. "This means there are no nuclear chain reactions, which unleash tremendous explosive force," he added. ![]() Not atomicĪ dirty bomb is "not a nuclear bomb," said Wolfgang Richter, a retired officer and expert on security at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, or SWP. In fact, Zelenskyy thinks Moscow itself intends to use dirty bombs.īut what are they? Dirty bombs are conventional explosive weapons containing radioactive material, the kind that might be used for ordinary medical radiotherapy, in food conservation or in industry. ![]() Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several Western governments have dismissed the accusation. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has claimed Ukraine wants to deploy one, saying Kyiv plans a false flag operation aimed at discrediting Russia's armed forces and leadership. A so-called "dirty bomb" is part of Russia's latest blow in a global propaganda battle.
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