Among other things, the NAS report is quoted as saying that "Another glaring need is for trusted spokespeople to be put into place - people who will be listened to in the case of emergency or attack, the report said."
....which IMHO doesn't go nearly far enough -- you also need these people to do a proper job of explaining some aspects of emergency preparedness -- instead of just willy-nilly publishing web documents intended for first responders -- this sloppy approach was recently responsible, here in Canada, for a little episode of media radiophobic hoopla (see http://www.dres.dnd.ca/Meetings/FirstResponders/8%20-%20Radiological%20Dispersion_final.pdf for the published first responders course document, and http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/archives/story.asp?id=7E9C80F2-922A-4613-B40A-B6EA1635B294 and http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/archives/story.asp?id=F8178FEF-743B-4AC9-B7A9-9AACE12DE74F for the media treatment ).
Jaro
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Better nuclear, power defenses needed - U.S. report.
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) - The United States needs to get moving to protect nuclear plants and the power grid against future attacks and may need to reorganize the way government agencies work together, top scientists said on Monday.
The country also has "enormous vulnerabilities" to a chemical or biological attack, made clear after the Sept. 11 attacks, said a report from the National Academy of Sciences, an independent organization that advises the government.
One top priority will be working with Russia to keep track of nuclear weapons and radioactive material that could be used either in a nuclear attack, or in a "dirty bomb" that would spread radioactive toxins using a conventional blast.
"Planning has been minimal at the federal or local levels for responding to either class of attack," the report said.
"Immediate steps should be taken to update the Federal Radiological Emergency Response Plan, or to develop a separate plan, to respond to nuclear and radiological terrorist attacks, especially an attack with a nuclear weapon on a U.S. city."
The report, written by a 24-member committee of experts, expressed special concern about the risk of either a nuclear or a biological attack.
"Our report gives the government a blueprint for using current technologies and creating new capabilities to reduce the likelihood of terrorist attacks and the severity of their consequences," Lewis Branscomb, co-chair of the committee that wrote the report and an emeritus professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, said in a statement.
"A single federal agency should be designated as the nation's lead research and development agency for nuclear and radiological counterterrorism," the report advises.
Research alone is not enough - the agency has to use it, and quickly, the report added.
ENORMOUS VULNERABILITIES
"The attacks of September 11 and the release of anthrax spores (in October) revealed enormous vulnerabilities in the U.S. public-health infrastructure and suggested similar vulnerabilities in the agricultural infrastructure as well," the report reads.
It said new drugs and vaccines need to be developed to protect against biological attack, but simple defenses also need to be set up to keep weapons from ever being used in the first place.
"Systems to detect the movement of illicit weapons and materials could be most effectively deployed at a limited number of strategic transportation 'choke points' such as critical border transit points in countries like Russia, major global cargo-container ports, major U.S. airports, and major pinch points in the U.S. interstate highway system," the report reads.
Another glaring need is for trusted spokespeople to be put into place - people who will be listened to in the case of emergency or attack, the report said.
Many experts have said the government's actions after the anthrax attacks last October, in which five people died, created a lack of trust. Government officials such as Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson have admitted they made mistakes.
The report lists seven urgent priorities:
- Develop effective treatments and preventatives for known pathogens for which current responses are unavailable and for potential emerging pathogens.
- Develop, test, and implement an intelligent, adaptive electric-power grid
- Advance the practical utility of data fusion and data mining for intelligence analysis, and enhance information security against cyberattacks
- Develop new and better technologies (e.g., protective gear, sensors, communications) for emergency responders
- Advance engineering design technologies and fire-rating standards for blast-and fire-resistant buildings
- Develop sensor and surveillance systems (for a wide range of targets) that create useful information for emergency officials and decision-makers
- Develop new methods and standards for filtering air against both chemicals and pathogens as well as better methods and standards for decontamination.