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| Dirty Bombs Because of recent terrorist events, people have expressed concern about the possibility of a terrorist attack involving radioactive materials, possibly through the use of a “dirty bomb,” and the harmful effects of radiation from such an event. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has prepared this fact sheet to help people understand what a dirty bomb is and how it may affect their health. What a “dirty bomb” is A dirty bomb, or radiological dispersion device, is a bomb that combines conventional explosives, such as dynamite, with radioactive materials in the form of powder or pellets. The idea behind a dirty bomb is to blast radioactive material into the area around the explosion. This could possibly cause buildings and people to be exposed to radioactive material. The main purpose of a dirty bomb is to frighten people and make buildings or land unusable for a long period of time. Dirty bomb versus atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki The atomic explosions that occurred in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were conventional nuclear weapons involving a fission reaction. A dirty bomb is designed to spread radioactive material and contaminate a small area. It does not include the fission products necessary to create a large blast like those seen in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Sources of the radioactive material There has been a lot of speculation about where terrorists could get radioactive material to place in a dirty bomb. The most harmful radioactive materials are found in nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons sites. However, increased security at these facilities makes obtaining materials from them more difficult. Because of the dangerous and difficult aspects of obtaining high-level radioactive materials from a nuclear facility, there is a greater chance that the radioactive materials used in a dirty bomb would come from low-level radioactive sources. Low-level radioactive sources are found in hospitals, on construction sites, and at food irradiation plants. The sources in these areas are used to diagnose and treat illnesses, sterilize equipment, inspect welding seams, and irradiate food to kill harmful microbes. Dangers of a dirty bomb If low-level radioactive sources were to be used, the primary danger from a dirty bomb would be the blast itself. Gauging how much radiation might be present is difficult when the source of the radiation is unknown. However, at the levels created by most probable sources, not enough radiation would be present in a dirty bomb to cause severe illness from exposure to radiation. Past use of dirty bombs According to a United Nations report, Iraq tested a dirty bomb device in 1987 but found that the radiation levels were too low to cause significant damage. Thus, Iraq abandoned any further use of the device. What people should do following an explosion Radiation cannot be seen, smelled, felt, or tasted by humans. Therefore, if people are present at the scene of an explosion, they will not know whether radioactive materials were involved at the time of the explosion. If people are not too severely injured by the initial blast, they should:
Taking potassium iodide (KI) Potassium iodide, also called KI, only protects a person’s thyroid gland from exposure to radioactive iodine. KI will not protect a person from other radioactive materials or protect other parts of the body from exposure to radiation. It must be taken prior to exposure (for example, if people hear that a radioactive cloud is coming their way) or immediately after exposure to be effective. Since there is no way to know at the time of an incident whether radioactive iodine was used in the explosive device, taking KI would probably not be beneficial.Also, KI can be dangerous to some people. Taking KI is not recommended unless there is a risk of exposure to radioactive iodine. If radioactive materials were involved Keep televisions or radios tuned to local news networks. If a radioactive material was released, people will be told where to report for radiation monitoring and blood tests to determine whether they were exposed to the radiation as well as what steps to take to protect their health. Risk of cancer from a dirty bomb Some cancers can be caused by exposure to radiation. Being at the site where a dirty bomb exploded does not guarantee that people were exposed to the radioactive material. Until doctors are able to check people’s skin with sensitive radiation detection devices, it will not be clear whether they were exposed. Just because people are near a radioactive source for a short time or get a small amount of radioactive material on them does not mean that they will get cancer. Doctors will be able to assess risks after the exposure level has been determined. For more information about radiation and emergency response, see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website at http://www.bt.cdc.gov or contact the following organizations: The CDC Public Response Source at 1-888-246-2675 The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors at (502) 227-4543 The Environmental Protection Agency The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Radiation Protection Program at (301) 415-8200 The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) can be reached at (202) 646-4600. The Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site at (865)-576-3131 The U.S. National Response Team The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) at 1-800-dial-DOE |
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World Trade Center Attack Memorial - September 11, 2001 Breaking News From GOD: April 17, 2006 11:23 AM
Send mail to Webmaster (at) Twin-Towers.net with questions or comments about
this web site. On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, at 8:45am New York local time, One World Trade Center, the north tower, was hit by a hijacked 767 commercial jet airplane, loaded with fuel for a trans-continental flight. Two World Trade Center, the south tower, was hit by a similar hijacked jet 18 minutes later at 9:03am. (In separate but related attacks, the Pentagon building near Washington D.C. was hit by a hijacked 757 at 9:43am, and at 10:10am, a fourth hijacked jetliner crashed in Pennsylvania.) The south tower, WTC 2, which had been hit second, was the first to suffer a complete structural collapse at 10:05am, 62 minutes after being hit itself, 80 minutes after the first impact. The north tower, WTC 1, then also collapsed at 10:29am, 104 minutes after being hit. WTC 7, a substantial 47 story office building in its own right, built in 1987, was damaged by the collapsing towers, caught fire, and later in the afternoon also totally collapsed. The list of collapsed buildings (as confirmed by the New York Times through Saturday, 2001.0915) included all seven buildings of the World Trade center complex — including WTC 6, the U.S Customs House to the north; WTC 3, the 22 story Marriot World Trade Center hotel just west of Tower Two; and WTC 4 and 5, the Plaza Buildings to the east (although satellite images suggest much of WTC 5, the north Plaza Building, was still standing). Other nearby buildings were significantly damaged, including the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, and One Liberty Plaza, a 54 floor, 743' tall building across Church Street to the east. About 2800 people died in the attack. The recovery and site clearing process officially concluded on May 30, 2002 with 1796 people still remain unrecovered. 1.8 million tons of debris was removed from the disaster site. Yahoo! Buzz Index Overall Leaders 1. Jennifer Lopez 2. Britney Spears 3. Euro 2004 4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 5. Usher 6. Paris Hilton 7. Detroit Pistons 8. Jessica Simpson 9. NBA 10. Linkin Park 11. Eminem 12. JoJo 13. Lindsay Lohan 14. Ryan Reynolds 15. Los Angeles Lakers Yahoo! Buzz Index Overall Movers 1. Matt Starr 2. Jeanie Buss 3. Marion Jones 4. Jennifer Lopez 5. Johnny Ramone 6. Bloomsday 7. Ulysses 8. Olympic Torch 9. Collateral 10. Nile River 11. Bill Davidson 12. Phil Jackson 13. Gone With the Wind 14. Iraq 15. Shelly Brown Yahoo! Buzz Index Television Leaders 1. Paris Hilton 2. Dragon Ball Z 3. Nicole Richie 4. Days of Our Lives 5. The Simpsons 6. Oprah Winfrey 7. American Idol 8. The Simple Life 2 9. Big Brother 10. Yu-Gi-Oh! 11. Entertainment Tonight 12. Sponge Bob Square Pants 13. Last Comic Standing 2 14. Friends 15. Sex and the City Yahoo! Buzz Index Music Leaders 1. Britney Spears 2. Usher 3. Jessica Simpson 4. Linkin Park 5. Eminem 6. JoJo 7. Beyonce Knowles 8. Slipknot 9. Christina Aguilera 10. D-12 11. Avril Lavigne 12. Tupac Shakur 13. Evanescence 14. Blink 182 15. 50 Cent Yahoo! Buzz Index Music Movers 1. Johnny Ramone 2. Ryan Cabrera 3. 98 Degrees 4. Alanis Morissette 5. Aretha Franklin 6. The Ramones 7. Justin Guarini 8. SWV 9. William Hung 10. Dave Navarro 11. Tim McGraw 12. Tragically Hip 13. Diana DeGarmo 14. Los Lobos 15. Lionel Richie Yahoo! Buzz Index Sports Leaders 1. Euro 2004 2. Detroit Pistons 3. NBA 4. Los Angeles Lakers 5. NASCAR 6. MLB 7. Kobe Bryant 8. NBA Finals 9. U.S. Open 10. David Beckham 11. Chicago Cubs 12. NFL 13. New York Yankees 14. Olympics 15. PGA Yahoo! Buzz Index Sports Movers 1. Jeanie Buss 2. Marion Jones 3. Olympic Torch 4. New York Marathon 5. Triple Crown 6. Chauncey Billups 7. Detroit Pistons 8. Larry Brown 9. Cristiano Ronaldo 10. Darko Milicic 11. Richard Hamilton 12. Jennie Finch 13. Tayshaun Prince 14. Karl Malone 15. Gary Payton Yahoo! Buzz Index Actors and Actresses Leaders 1. Jennifer Lopez 2. Lindsay Lohan 3. Ryan Reynolds 4. Ashlee Simpson 5. Hilary Duff 6. Pamela Anderson 7. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen 8. Carmen Electra 9. Orlando Bloom 10. Johnny Depp 11. Daniel Radcliffe 12. Courteney Cox 13. Angelina Jolie 14. Jennifer Aniston 15. Emma Watson Yahoo! Buzz Index Actors and Actresses Movers 1. Jennifer Lopez 2. Ryan Reynolds 3. Sylvester Stallone 4. Owen Wilson 5. Jay Mohr 6. Gael Garcia Bernal 7. Elle MacPherson 8. Linda Blair 9. Rachel Weisz 10. Fran Drescher 11. Samaire Armstrong 12. Jenna Elfman 13. Alexa Vega 14. Joaquin Phoenix 15. Kristanna Loken Yahoo! Buzz Index Movies Leaders 1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 2. Shrek 2 3. Michael Moore 4. Spider-Man 5. Spider-Man 2 6. Lord of the Rings 7. Troy 8. Shrek 9. Fahrenheit 9-11 10. Star Wars 11. Batman Begins 12. The Day After Tomorrow 13. Stepford Wives 14. Alien vs. Predator 15. Chronicles of Riddick Yahoo! Buzz Index Video Games Leaders 1. Pokemon 2. Final Fantasy 3. GunBound 4. Sonic 5. Halo 2 6. EverQuest 7. Manhunt 8. The Sims 9. Resident Evil 10. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City 11. Star Wars Galaxies 12. Halo 13. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 14. Zelda 15. Mega Man Yahoo! Buzz Index Video Games Movers 1. NBA Live 2004 2. SOCOM 2 3. EverQuest 4. Pokemon Crater 5. Starcraft Cheats 6. Silent Hill 4 7. Battlefield 1942 8. Command and Conquer 9. Fire Emblem 10. Mortal Kombat 11. Final Fantasy X-2 12. Sonic 13. Counter-Strike Hacks 14. FFX 15. MVP Baseball 2004 Yahoo! Buzz Index Networks Leaders 1. ESPN 2. Cartoon Network 3. Nickelodeon 4. BBC 5. CNN 6. Disney Channel 7. MTV 8. Weather Channel 9. Food Network 10. CBS 11. QVC 12. Fox News 13. Univision 14. MSNBC 15. PBS Yahoo! Buzz Index Baseball Leaders 1. Chicago Cubs 2. New York Yankees 3. Houston Astros 4. Boston Red Sox 5. Los Angeles Dodgers 6. San Francisco Giants 7. Texas Rangers 8. San Diego Padres 9. St. Louis Cardinals 10. Cincinnati Reds 11. Philadelphia Phillies 12. Atlanta Braves 13. Chicago White Sox 14. Milwaukee Brewers 15. Anaheim Angels Yahoo! Buzz Index Basketball Leaders 1. Detroit Pistons 2. Los Angeles Lakers 3. Dallas Mavericks 4. Chicago Bulls 5. Indiana Pacers 6. Sacramento Kings 7. Minnesota Timberwolves 8. San Antonio Spurs 9. Boston Celtics 10. Houston Rockets 11. New Jersey Nets 12. Orlando Magic 13. Memphis Grizzlies 14. New York Knicks 15. Phoenix Suns Yahoo! Buzz Index Football Leaders 1. Dallas Cowboys 2. Oakland Raiders 3. Green Bay Packers 4. San Francisco 49ers 5. Chicago Bears 6. Washington Redskins 7. Pittsburgh Steelers 8. Philadelphia Eagles 9. Indianapolis Colts 10. Miami Dolphins 11. Cincinnati Bengals 12. Detroit Lions 13. Seattle Seahawks 14. Cleveland Browns 15. New York Giants Yahoo! Buzz Index Hockey Leaders 1. Tampa Bay Lightning 2. Detroit Red Wings 3. Calgary Flames 4. Philadelphia Flyers kate faber Paris Hilton Sex Video TapeWORLD TRADE CENTER TERRORIST ATTACK IN NEW
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