Understanding radiologic and nuclear terrorism as public health threats

Understanding radiologic and nuclear terrorism as public health threats

Preparedness and response perspectives

By Daniel Barnett, Cindy L. Parker, David W. Blodgett, Rachel K. Wierzba, Jonathan Links
The Journal of Nuclear Medicine

Terrorism dates back to antiquity, but our understanding of it as a public health threat is still in its nascent stages. Focusing on radiation and nuclear terrorism, we apply a public health perspective to explore relevant physical health and psychosocial impacts, the evolving national response infrastructure created to address terrorism, and the potential roles of nuclear medicine professionals in preparing for and responding to radiologic and nuclear terrorism.

Understanding terrorism begins with defining it-a complex task in itself. "Terrorism" has had 100 definitions, each varying in inclusion or exclusion of certain motivating factors, means of attack, and targeted groups or individuals (1). The U.S. federal government itself has several working definitions of terrorism, whose general themes include a calculated, unlawful use of violence to intimidate or coerce populations or governments (2-4).

A brief overview of relevant historical events can aid in our understanding of radiologic and nuclear terrorism threats. In 1987, a nonterrorism-related radiologic emergency in Brazil involved health effects and radioactive material mirroring what might be expected in a radiation terrorism scenario. In this incident, a group of men seeking scrap metal dismantled an abandoned teletherapy unit at the Goiana Institute of Radiotherapy, exposing the unit's platinum core containing (5). The purchaser of this scrap metal then unknowingly distributed the radioactive material among relatives, friends, and children, resulting in contamination of 249 people and 4 deaths (5). The well-documented physical, economic, and psychosocial impacts on the area were significant (5).

More recently, threats of radiologic terrorism from al Qaeda were raised in 2002 when 31-y-old Jose Padilla was detained on suspicion that he intended to deploy a radiologic dispersal device (RDD) in lhe United States (5); detailed plans for RDDs were uncovered after the destruction of an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan.