Chemical weapons terrorist attacks

The main problem connected with chemical terrorism is that beside chemical weapons, terrorists can use different toxic chemicals from the chemical industry, the agriculture or products released from industrial facilities following a terrorist act. An attack on a chemical plant can immediately release a number of different kinds of chemicals [6], Some differences exist between chemical weapons (CW) and the chemicals released after destruction of a chemical plant following a terrorist act [4] ... 

Currently, scientists and experts from many countries are working on development and implementation of a readiness for anti terrorist actions. In addition to chemical weapons, terrorists can use various toxic chemicals from chemical industry, agriculture or products released from terrorist acts on industrial facilities. The arsenal of chemical agents that can be used as terrorist agents is practically unlimited. The focus of this workshop was assessment of scientific concepts and practical means for management of chemical agent casualties in the area of terrorist attack with emphasis on improving the medical treatment and decontamination. These problems were analyzed from an interdisciplinary perspective. 

Based on the history of terrorist attacks, which have mostly involved hijacking and bombing of aircraft, current threat-detection measures have concentrated on detecting weapons or explosives. In the future, terrorist attacks could also involve the use of toxic chemicals, chemical and biological warfare agents, or even radiological and nuclear materials.1 2... 

Chapter 11 addresses national and personal security, both the role that the chemical sciences can play in dealing with terrorist threats and the other ways in which national and personal security depend on current and future advances. There are serious challenges in this area. How can we detect chemical or biological attacks How can we deal with them when they are detected How can we provide improved materials and weapons to our armed forces, and to our civilian police What can we contribute to increase the security of the average citizen We conclude that this is an area where the chemical sciences are particularly central and relevant. 

The terrorist attack is very difficult to be predicted and it could be performed everywhere, anytime. A wide range of weapons and methods could be used by the terrorists to achieve their goals. Explosives, guns, chemical and biological agents may be used. Water and food contamination, pollution of air controlled systems and many others could be listed, and the imagination has no limit, as shown by the 9/11 attack. 

Updated to reflect the numerous advances that have evolved since the September 11 terrorist attacks, Emergency Response Handbook for Chemical and Biological Agents and Weapons, Second Edition maintains its reputation as a comprehensive training manual for emergency responders to incidents involving nuclear, biological, and chemical materials. 

Bolton s opinion was bolstered in June 2005 by Senator Richard Lu-gar s survey of 85 non-proliferation and national security analysts from the United States and other nations. It was designed in part to characterize the risks related to the terrorist use of CBRN. The survey revealed that experts believe the probability of an attack somewhere in the world with a CBRN weapon was 50% over the next five years and 70% over the next ten. An attack with a radiological weapon was seen as the most probable with the likelihood of an attack with a nuclear or biological weapon considered about half as plausible [37]. The average probability of a nuclear attack in the next ten years was nearly 30%, with experts almost evenly divided between terrorist acquisitions of a working nuclear weapon versus self-construction [37]. The average risk estimate over ten years for major chemical and biological attacks was 20%. Senator Lu-gar concluded The bottom line is this for the foreseeable future, the United States and other nations will face an existential threat from the intersection of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. ... 

Emergency responder Safety professional (fireman, police officer, medical technician, etc.) who will respond to a terrorist attack involving nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons. 

This chapter summarizes the various types of radiation and warfare agents that emergency responders and the public may encounter as a result of a terrorist attack. It also discusses recent black market activities, to emphasize the real threat of terrorist actions involving radiological weapons. While the chemical and biological warfare agents presented in Sections 2.2 and 2.3 are the most likely to be encountered, new agents are continuously developed. 

Why have there been no terrorist attacks with nerve agents in the many months since 9-11 The answer seems obvious chemical weapons are not particularly effective At best, they cause deaths in a circumscribed area where there is no protection and no escape. Two hundred kilograms of conventional high explosive, (the capacity of a SCUD missile) can cause more deaths than the same amount of "nerve gas." Any statement that such agents will cause tens of thousand of casualties is gross hyperbole. What is worse, it unnecessarily fans the flames of panic. 

What I hope you ve gathered by this point is that a chemical weapons attack that kills a lot of people is incredibly hard to do with military grade agents and equipment, so you can imagine how hard it will be for terrorists. The more you know about this stuff the more you realize how hard it is to use. 

The products of our chemical processing industries themselves could become the instruments of terrorists because of their flammability, reactivity, toxicity, or notoriety. It is critical to minimize the vulnerability of chemicals or chemical assets to attack, contamination, or diversion for terrorist purposes, particularly as weapons of mass destraction. Critical challenges include the development of systems or chemistries that reduce the amount of or substitute for materials currently at risk, alter the attractiveness of such materials to terrorists, minimize the inventory and transportation of such materials, and that can detect and track the covert production and transportation of such materials. 

Loss of life or property from a terrorist attack at home or on om troops on a battlefield wonld be minimized or possibly prevented by the capability to detect the presence of chemical, biological, or radiological agents anywhere in the world. Detection capabilities are also reqnired at borders and U.S. ports of entry, where shipping containers and vehicles shonld be checked for evidence of chemical weapons, biological weapons, and explosives. Beyond detection, the capability to nnambignonsly identify observed threat agents is required to maximize the effectiveness of our response. 

The second grand challenge, preparation, is as important as threat redaction, since preventive measures will not preclude all terrorist attacks. Though chemical and biological weapons are many and varied, a common set of barriers in basic science exist that can be overcome to increase our readiness. 

The twentieth century saw an unprecedented increase in destruction caused by warfare, mainly brought about by the ever-increasing lethality of weapons and the introduction of new forms of killing, notably the development and refinement of chemical weapons. The terrorist attacks on New York on 11 September 2001, and the responses to them, suggest that in the twenty-first century we shall continue to witness violence by both states and terrorist groups within them. 

Chapter 7 examines the threat (real and imagined) from a chemical warfare attack today by rationally assessing to what extent terrorist groups around the world are capable of making and using such weapons. Finally, throughout the book, the various protocols that attempted to bring about either the non-production or destruction of chemical weapons from 1675 to 1997 are examined and evaluated. 

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