[ RadSafe ] What Are Radionuclear Materials?

[Geo>K0FF]

Seems to be a favorite WHO word. Possibly a literal translation of 
RADIOLOGICAL from Hindi.

George Dowell

This definition is from a 2004 WHO document-

"Box 1: Radionuclear threats19 20

  a.. Explosion of "dirty bombs"-that is, conventional explosives bound with 
radioactive materials-may cause radiation sickness and radiation injuries to 
a lesser scale of several orders of magnitude than a nuclear bomb.1 6 
Nevertheless, they might cause hundreds of deaths or severe injuries and 
environmental contamination by radioactive materials in a limited area

  b.. Dispersal of high activity radioactive materials into air 
conditioning, underground railways, drinking water, or food supplies.2 3 
This method is most likely to cause damage to humans in large numbers and 
would be almost impossible to detect or stop immediately unless radiation in 
air, water, and food supplies is monitored continuously

  c.. Direct attacks on nuclear power plants or nuclear fuel reprocessing 
facilities are unlikely as they are well secured2 20

  d.. Use of nuclear weapons is unlikely but cannot be ruled out4 19

  e.. Locating a highly radioactive source in heavily populated places is 
possible but not feasible"
  f..
  g..

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scott, Bobby" <BScott at lrri.org>
To: <radsafe at radlab.nl>
Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 6:39 PM
Subject: [ RadSafe ] What Are Radionuclear Materials?


Colleagues:



The terminology "radionuclear material" appears in some recent
publications that relate to possible future food supply contamination
carried out by terrorist (e.g., WHO 2002; Mohtadi and Murshid 2009).
Can someone define or explain what is meant by radionuclear material?
Isn't this improper terminology?



Bobby R. Scott

Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute

2425 Ridgecrest Drive SE

Albuquerque, NM 87108 USA



References



Mohtadi H, Murshid AP. 2009. Risk analysis of chemical, biological, or
radionuclear threats: Implications for food security. Risk Analysis Vol.
29(9):1317-1335.

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bpl/risk/2009/00000029/00000009/ar
t00013



WHO. 2002. Food Safety Issues: Terrorist Threats to Food. Guidance for
Establishing and Strengthening Prevention and Response Systems. World
Health Organization. Available at:

http://www.vet.utk.edu/cafsp/resources/pdf/WHO%20Food%20Safety%20Issues%
20-%20Terrorist%20Threats%20to%20Food.pdf





_______________________________________________
You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list

Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood the 
RadSafe rules. These can be found at: 
http://radlab.nl/radsafe/radsaferules.html

For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings visit: 
http://radlab.nl/radsafe/