Canada Ill-Prepared for “Dirty Bomb,” Study Finds

Canadian officials have plans for responding to a “dirty bomb” attack in their nation, but the country remains insufficiently prepared for such a catastrophic event, the Canadian Press reported today (see GSN, Jan. 3).

A government-funded study found Canadian preparations lacking for the detonation of such a weapon, in which conventional explosives would be used to spread radioactive material.  Canada and other nations have failed to acquire equipment for decontamination of large, high-population areas, and the various levels of government in the country have not established agreed on an extended recovery plan.

Few people would die directly from a dirty bomb explosion, the Defense Research and Development Canada study found.  An attack would instead cause economic paralysis and mass hysteria.

The economic fallout of such an attack was estimated at $22.1 billion for Toronto, $8.2 billion for Vancouver, and $2.1 billion for an explosion connecting Windsor, Ontario, with Detroit. 

A dirty bomb explosion in Canada is by no means impossible, the study determined.  It based its model on the explosion of a weapon containing a small amount of americium 241, a plutonium byproduct that is available in industrial oil well gauges.  Thieves easily stole such a device in Alberta in 2003.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said Canadian government agencies and private firms have worked hard to prevent and prepare for a dirty bomb explosion, according to the Canadian Press.

“We know that terrorists have a particular fascination with explosives, and radioactive explosives would be devastating,” he said.  “An event like that could happen.”

The government has installed 25 radiation detectors at the Ottawa International Airport and Canadian first responders have participated in several simulations of dirty bomb explosions.

The final version of the study is due next March (Bronskill/Bailey, Canadian Press/The Globe and Mail, July 3).

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