[ RadSafe ] Nuclear power plants; radiological bombs not on top of list of attacks

[bobcherry at cox.net]

John,

It seems like I usually leave out something in my first draft of a post to RADSAFE. 

What I had in mind was not that the list gives terrorists ideas, but rather it lets them know what we are preparing for or thinking about. That tells them that they may be more successful if they try something not on the list. 

I am sure they have no shortage of ideas.

Bob
> 
> From: John Jacobus <crispy_bird at yahoo.com>
> Date: 2005/03/16 Wed PM 05:55:50 EST
> To: bobcherry at cox.net,  radsafe <radsafe at radlab.nl>,  know_nukes at yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Nuclear power plants; radiological bombs not on top of list of attacks
> 
> Come on, now.  You certainly could of another five or
> six terrorism attacks in about 10 minutes.
> 
> --- bobcherry at cox.net wrote:
> 
> > The mind boggles.
> > 
> > At a minimum, the military likely would classify
> > such a report as FOUO. More likely, it would be
> > CONFIDENTIAL. The fact that a website in Hawaii
> > accidentally released it does not mean it should be
> > turned into a press release, in my mind. Instead,
> > take it off the Hawaii website.
> > 
> > Bob C
> > > 
> > > From: John Jacobus <crispy_bird at yahoo.com>
> > > Date: 2005/03/16 Wed PM 04:35:14 EST
> > > To: radsafe <radsafe at radlab.nl>, 
> > know_nukes at yahoogroups.com
> > > Subject: [ RadSafe ] Nuclear power plants;
> > > 	radiological bombs not on top of list of attacks
> > > 
> > > >From today's New York Times
> > > 
> > > March 16, 2005
> > > U.S. Report Lists Possibilities for Terrorist
> > Attacks
> > > and Likely Toll
> > > By ERIC LIPTON 
> > >  
> > > ASHINGTON, March 15 - The Department of Homeland
> > > Security, trying to focus antiterrorism spending
> > > better nationwide, has identified a dozen possible
> > > strikes it views as most plausible or devastating,
> > > including detonation of a nuclear device in a
> > major
> > > city, release of sarin nerve agent in office
> > buildings
> > > and a truck bombing of a sports arena. 
> > > 
> > > The document, known simply as the National
> > Planning
> > > Scenarios, reads more like a doomsday plan,
> > offering
> > > estimates of the probable deaths and economic
> > damage
> > > caused by each type of attack. 
> > > 
> > > They include blowing up a chlorine tank, killing
> > > 17,500 people and injuring more than 100,000;
> > > spreading pneumonic plague in the bathrooms of an
> > > airport, sports arena and train station, killing
> > 2,500
> > > and sickening 8,000 worldwide; and infecting
> > cattle
> > > with foot-and-mouth disease at several sites,
> > costing
> > > hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.
> > Specific
> > > locations are not named because the events could
> > > unfold in many major metropolitan or rural areas,
> > the
> > > document says. 
> > > 
> > > The agency's objective is not to scare the public,
> > > officials said, and they have no credible
> > intelligence
> > > that such attacks are planned. The department did
> > not
> > > intend to release the document publicly, but a
> > draft
> > > of it was inadvertently posted on a Hawaii state
> > > government Web site.
> > > 
> > > By identifying possible attacks and specifying
> > what
> > > government agencies should do to prevent, respond
> > to
> > > and recover from them, Homeland Security is trying
> > for
> > > the first time to define what "prepared" means,
> > > officials said.
> > > 
> > > That will help decide how billions of federal
> > dollars
> > > are distributed in the future. Cities like New
> > York
> > > that have targets with economic and symbolic
> > value, or
> > > places with hazardous facilities like chemical
> > plants
> > > could get a bigger share of agency money than
> > before,
> > > while less vulnerable communities could receive
> > less. 
> > > 
> > > "We live in a world of finite resources, whether
> > they
> > > be personnel or funding," said Matt A. Mayer,
> > acting
> > > executive director of the Office of State and
> > Local
> > > Government Coordination and Preparedness at the
> > > Homeland Security Department, which is in charge
> > of
> > > the effort. 
> > > 
> > > President Bush requested the list of priorities 15
> > > months ago to address a widespread criticism of
> > > Homeland Security from members of Congress and
> > > antiterrorism experts that it was wasting money by
> > > spreading it out instead of focusing on areas or
> > > targets at greatest risk. Critics also have
> > faulted
> > > the agency for not having a detailed plan on how
> > to
> > > eliminate or reduce vulnerabilities.
> > > 
> > > Michael Chertoff, the new secretary of homeland
> > > security, has made it clear that this risk-based
> > > planning will be a central theme of his tenure,
> > saying
> > > that the nation must do a better job of
> > identifying
> > > the greatest threats and then move aggressively to
> > > deal with them.
> > > 
> > > "There's risk everywhere; risk is a part of life,"
> > Mr.
> > > Chertoff said in testimony before the Senate last
> > > week. "I think one thing I've tried to be clear in
> > > saying is we will not eliminate every risk."
> > > 
> > > The goal of the document's planners was not to
> > > identify every type of possible terrorist attack.
> > It
> > > does not include an airplane hijacking, for
> > example,
> > > because "there are well developed and tested
> > response
> > > plans" for such an incident. Planners included the
> > > threats they considered the most plausible or
> > > devastating, and that represented a range of the
> > > calamities that communities might need to prepare
> > for,
> > > said Marc Short, a department spokesman. "Each
> > > scenario generally reflects suspected terrorist
> > > capabilities and known tradecraft," the document
> > says.
> > > 
> > > 
> > > To ensure that emergency planning is adequate for
> > most
> > > possible hazards, three catastrophic natural
> > events
> > > are included: an influenza pandemic, a magnitude
> > 7.2
> > > earthquake in a major city and a slow-moving
> > Category
> > > 5 hurricane hitting a major East Coast city.
> > > 
> > > The strike possibilities were used to create a
> > > comprehensive list of the capabilities and actions
> > > necessary to prevent attacks or handle incidents
> > once
> > > they happen, like searching for the injured,
> > treating
> > > the surge of victims at hospitals, distributing
> > mass
> > > quantities of medicine and collecting the dead. 
> > > 
> > > Once the White House approves the plan, which
> > could
> > > happen within the next month, state and local
> > > governments will be asked to identify gaps in
> > > fulfilling the demands placed upon them by the
> > > possible strikes, officials said.
> > > 
> > > No terrorist groups are identified in the
> > documents.
> > > Instead, those responsible for the various
> > > hypothetical attacks are called Universal
> > Adversary.
> > > 
> > > The most devastating of the possible attacks - as
> > > measured by loss of life and economic impact -
> > would
> > > be a nuclear bomb, the explosion of a liquid
> > chlorine
> > > tank and an aerosol anthrax attack.
> > > 
> > > The anthrax attack involves terrorists filling a
> > truck
> > > with an aerosolized version of anthrax and driving
> > > through five cities over two weeks spraying it
> > into
> > > the air. Public health officials, the report
> > predicts,
> > > would probably not know of the initial attack
> > until a
> > > day or two after it started. By the time it was
> > over,
> > > an estimated 350,000 people would be exposed, and
> > > about 13,200 would die, the report predicts.
> > > 
> > 
> === message truncated ===
> 
> 
> +++++++++++++++++++
> "A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy
> enough people to make it worth the effort." Herm Albright
> 
> -- John
> John Jacobus, MS
> Certified Health Physicist
> e-mail:  crispy_bird at yahoo.com
> 
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
> http://mail.yahoo.com 
>