Mass Proliferation Research Paper

CRJ 553 - WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION Arizona State University Dr. Timothy Franklin

Assignment 3.

Submitted by:

Eugene L. Deener, BSPA, SEM, CHS III, CHEC III, FEMA PCP

CRJ 553 Deener 1

Abstract:

As the world seen post 9/11 with the Anthrax

While the collapse of the Soviet Union left the world in a precarious place with some nuclear material in some sketchy hands, overall the situation stabilized, and most are accounted for. However, it’s the procurement program established by Khan to make Pakistan nuclear, that has slowly drifted into an import business, most notably to Iran and some suspect, to North Korea. One attempt was discovered by the arms inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but little evidence as to what was received was found. Because of international attention brought on by the Khan Network, legal frame work like the Proliferation Security Initiative has been strengthened to criminalized proliferation. UN Security Resolution 1540 further also called for “all states to criminalize proliferation to nonstate actors and to establish, review and maintain appropriate export control systems” (Chapter 2.5, pg. 263, Forest and Howard, 2013). Another aspect of controlling this is a “broad political-military strategy that rests on a firm tripod of policies to: attack terrorists and their organizations; prevent the continued growth of Islamist terrorism; and protect against and prepare for terrorist attacks.” (National Commission, 2004). Overall, the threat is very real and always on the cusp of reality. While “Mutually Assured

It depends on the how it was dispersed and environmental conditions. Was it food born? Was it a Radiological Dispersal Device? Was it a nuclear device (there is a difference)? Where did it come from? These are the questions Public Health and Emergency Management officials will need to ask and investigate. In the short term, radiation exposure of sufficient levels can cause radiation sickness or death. Was there a plume? If there was a pathway, radiation exposure may increase the risk of types of cancer over time. In the article “Radiological Terrorism” it was found that “although radiation is a confirmed carcinogen, it is a weak carcinogen and even radiation levels significantly in excess of natural background levels do not significantly raise cancer risks. As radiation dose increases, the cancer risk increases in a fairly predictable manner.” (Karam, 2005). Some specific isotopes pose a health risk. The biological processes tend to concentrate certain chemicals in certain organs. A Nuclear explosion would complicate issues not only due to the explosion, but the wounds caused and later fallout issues. For example, radioactive iodine, if absorbed into the body, would tend to concentrate in the thyroid gland, causing radiation injury. It would be absorbed even quicker if there were open wounds. For example, in 1987 cesium-137 source was spilled from a discarded x-ray machine in a junkyard that came from an abandoned hospital in Goiania, Brazil. This