THE MISSION – STOP A “DIRTY BOMB”

A ” Dirty Bomb”, The threat is real. Can a country try and foil this one? Israel has taken some steps to counter efforts to stop it before it even gets close to its borders.

The fear from a terror group using what is referred to as a “dirty bomb” has increased. The problems involved in sealing the maritime borders of countries have been instrumental in that fear.

Israel has in recent years, increased the “mechanism” aimed at foiling an attempt to use such a device. Details are highly classified, but it can be said that is very diversified. A “dirty bomb” is one type of a “radiological dispersal device” (RDD) that combines a conventional explosive, such as dynamite, with radioactive material.

The terms dirty bomb and RDD are often used interchangeably in the media. Most RDD’s would not release enough radiation to kill people or cause severe illness – the conventional explosive itself would be more harmful to individuals than the radioactive material. However, depending on the scenario, an RDD explosion could create fear and panic, contaminate property, and require potentially costly cleanup. Making prompt, accurate information available to the public could prevent the panic sought by terrorists.

According to “general” intelligence, the entire world’s major terrorist organizations are trying to put together a “dirty bomb”. Intelligence sources say that al Qaeda is leading the effort. In the U.S Homeland Security authorities decided a few years ago to install equipment to detect such bombs through ports serving cargo ships.

Experts say that the basic knowledge required in assembling bombs to “produce” a dirty bomb. A dirty bomb could be of any size consisting of up to several hundred kg of explosives, plus a few dozen kg of radioactive material.