Consider a van parked in a lot outside a professional footba

Consider a van parked in a lot outside a professional football stadium in Atlanta, GA on a Sunday afternoon. One ounce of radioactive isotope Cesium 137 was mixed in with the explosive that has been detonated and has caused considerable blast damage. The dust cloud carries toward the nearby downtown area on a light wind speed of 10 mph. (Hint: Aristatek.com website for helpful in answering this question).

a. How could the bomb have been detonated?

b. A professional emergency responder should be concerned about the following routes of radiation exposure for a person on scene and a person downtown?

c. What actions should an exposed person take during the immediate aftermath of the explosion?

d. Lastly, if radioactive material is involved in a disaster incident such as this and there is a fire ongoing in the area where the container is located (possibly the container itself), name five actions that should be taken to handle the situation.

Please answer in essay form with approx 150 words. Please cite reference material

Solution

a) Used by the food industry for food radiation. It is also used in industrial radiography. A terrorist would probably use cesium 137 in the form of cesium chloride which is a fine powder like talc and is easily dispersed. The former Soviet Union is believed to have produced a considerable quantity of cesium 137.

b) We will consider the radiation dose from three sources:

c) No way of knowing whether a suspected terrorist explosion has been seeded with radioactive isotopes. If remnants of lead shielding are seen at the site, radioactive isotopes probably are present. Use of radiation detection equipment is essential before approaching any site where an incident has occurred. If an explosion has occurred, efforts must be made to avoid breathing in dust. Respirators designed to screen out fine particulates is essential. Unless there is danger of fire or collapsing buildings, probably the general public should be sheltered in place (inside homes and buildings). If excessive radiation is present in the dust cloud, the public should remain in place until the dust cloud has passed and an orderly evacuation can occur. Efforts must be made to keep the dust outside the buildings and homes by avoiding traffic in and out and sealing up doors and vents. The media has made fun of