Features of Radiological Terrorist Attacks

Radiological terrorism is the use of radioactive material to cause human casualties, environmental destruction and maximum disruption, panic and fear (1) in the general population for political purposes. Since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, with 150,000 casualties and 75,000 fatalities (2), people have feared nuclear explosives more than any other weapons of mass destruction, because of the ability of these weapons to cause immediate devastation and trauma, and because radiation, undetected by human senses, can cause ongoing morbidity and mortality, including cancer, years after exposure (3). 

Radioactive materials, used in industry and health care, are ubiquitous. Authorities have already confiscated radioactive materials from sellers in international black markets (5). Although detonating a nuclear bomb is the worst possible scenario, terrorists can use radioactive materials to fabricate other less lethal, but effective weapons. This chapter will discuss the five potential types and sources of radioactive weapons (1,3)  

Melnick (ed.), Biological, Chemical, and Radiological Terrorism. Springer 2008 

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