xii
Preface and Acknowledgements
terrorism, I helped prepare our medical center to respond to a radiological or nuclear
attack (or to provide assistance to others who were attacked), I contributed to a few
reports on topics related to radiological and nuclear terrorism, and much more. And
then things got even more involved.
I spent nearly a decade working for the New York City government, first for the
Health Department and then for the Counterterrorism Division of the New York
City Police Department (NYPD), getting two more views of this issue. My time
at Health was spent working with my staff and with other agencies to develop the
department’s and the city’s emergency response plans; at the Police Department, I
continued this planning work as well as working with expanding and operating our
rad/nuke interdiction system. During my time with Health and Police, I also spent a
fair amount of time in the field, standing by with the Hazardous Materials Response
Unit for major events, in the event that there was an attack, performing aerial and
maritime interdiction surveys and helping to interpret the various instrument readings
when I was with the Police. It is safe to say that the possibility of a radiological or
nuclear attack changed the direction of my career and much of my life.
In the last 30 years, the world has grown both more and less dangerous and a
lot more confusing. While we no longer worry that the world will be engulfed in
nuclear fireballs, we do worry that a single city might; and while we are no longer
faced with a relatively monolithic and implacable foe, we are facing a multitude of
smaller enemies who, unfortunately, are not tied to a single state or even to a single
location—an enemy that has few worries of being destroyed because we might not
even know where to find them. Not only that, but our enemies’ goals are different
than those of the Soviet Union—they do not mind launching “nuisance” attacks with
radiological weapons and they do not possess a nation or substantial resources that
can be easily targeted for retaliatory attacks. Thus, we find ourselves in a world in
which a nuclear attack is plausibly more likely than it was—but is less likely to be
the existential threat it once was—and in which a radiological attack is more likely
still. Preventing, planning for, or responding to such attacks is a complex matter
that involves a sometimes-bewildering array of knowledge and skills; more than any
single person can master.
Radiological and Nuclear Terrorism is aimed at a broad range of readers, including
radiation safety professionals, emergency response planners, emergency responders,
medical professionals, public health officials and the elected and appointed officials
who will be managing our preparations for—and response to—any such attacks.
My intention is to give each of these groups enough information to help them begin
to consider how they would address their own piece of this issue, to provide highquality references to help them dig deeper (should they wish) and sufficiently broad
view of this matter to help them to understand how their own work falls into the
overall “big picture” of both preparation and response. Hopefully, too, having a
broad understanding of this matter will help to appreciate the problems faced by
others and the work that these others are doing.
I have wanted to write a book like this one for over a decade. When I first started
thinking about it, I was convinced I could do it well—and every year I learn more, I
do more, and I realize how little I actually knew when this thought first crossed my
Preface and Acknowledgements
terrorism, I helped prepare our medical center to respond to a radiological or nuclear
attack (or to provide assistance to others who were attacked), I contributed to a few
reports on topics related to radiological and nuclear terrorism, and much more. And
then things got even more involved.
I spent nearly a decade working for the New York City government, first for the
Health Department and then for the Counterterrorism Division of the New York
City Police Department (NYPD), getting two more views of this issue. My time
at Health was spent working with my staff and with other agencies to develop the
department’s and the city’s emergency response plans; at the Police Department, I
continued this planning work as well as working with expanding and operating our
rad/nuke interdiction system. During my time with Health and Police, I also spent a
fair amount of time in the field, standing by with the Hazardous Materials Response
Unit for major events, in the event that there was an attack, performing aerial and
maritime interdiction surveys and helping to interpret the various instrument readings
when I was with the Police. It is safe to say that the possibility of a radiological or
nuclear attack changed the direction of my career and much of my life.
In the last 30 years, the world has grown both more and less dangerous and a
lot more confusing. While we no longer worry that the world will be engulfed in
nuclear fireballs, we do worry that a single city might; and while we are no longer
faced with a relatively monolithic and implacable foe, we are facing a multitude of
smaller enemies who, unfortunately, are not tied to a single state or even to a single
location—an enemy that has few worries of being destroyed because we might not
even know where to find them. Not only that, but our enemies’ goals are different
than those of the Soviet Union—they do not mind launching “nuisance” attacks with
radiological weapons and they do not possess a nation or substantial resources that
can be easily targeted for retaliatory attacks. Thus, we find ourselves in a world in
which a nuclear attack is plausibly more likely than it was—but is less likely to be
the existential threat it once was—and in which a radiological attack is more likely
still. Preventing, planning for, or responding to such attacks is a complex matter
that involves a sometimes-bewildering array of knowledge and skills; more than any
single person can master.
Radiological and Nuclear Terrorism is aimed at a broad range of readers, including
radiation safety professionals, emergency response planners, emergency responders,
medical professionals, public health officials and the elected and appointed officials
who will be managing our preparations for—and response to—any such attacks.
My intention is to give each of these groups enough information to help them begin
to consider how they would address their own piece of this issue, to provide highquality references to help them dig deeper (should they wish) and sufficiently broad
view of this matter to help them to understand how their own work falls into the
overall “big picture” of both preparation and response. Hopefully, too, having a
broad understanding of this matter will help to appreciate the problems faced by
others and the work that these others are doing.
I have wanted to write a book like this one for over a decade. When I first started
thinking about it, I was convinced I could do it well—and every year I learn more, I
do more, and I realize how little I actually knew when this thought first crossed my