The effects of using Cesium-137 teletherapy sources as a radiological weapon (dirty bomb)

TL;DR

This study uses computer simulations to assess the potential health, environmental, and economic impacts of using Cesium-137 teletherapy sources as radiological weapons in terrorist attacks, highlighting significant evacuation and decontamination challenges.

Contribution

It provides a novel simulation-based analysis of the consequences of using medical Cesium-137 sources as radiological weapons in urban terrorist scenarios.

Findings

Large-scale evacuations would be necessary after a Cesium-137 attack.

Cancer mortality increase would be statistically insignificant.

Significant land contamination and health costs would result from such an attack.

Abstract

While radioactive sources used in medical diagnosis do not pose a great security risk due to their low level of radioactivity, therapeutic sources are extremely radioactive and can presumably be used as a radiological weapon. Cobalt-60 and Cesium-137 sources are the most common ones used in radiotherapy with over 10,000 of such sources currently in use worldwide, especially in the developing world, which cannot afford modern accelerators. The present study uses computer simulations to investigate the effects of using Cesium-137 sources from teletherapy devices as a radiological weapon. Assuming a worst-case terrorist attack scenario, we estimate the ensuing cancer mortality, land contamination, evacuation area, as well as the relevant evacuation, decontamination, and health costs in the framework of the linear risk model. The results indicate that an attack with a Cesium-137 dirty bomb in a large metropolitan city (especially one that would involve several teletherapy sources) although would not cause any statistically significant cancer mortality current radiation safety standards would impose the evacuation of large areas and the relocation of thousands of people.