Russia tells China, India Ukraine planning ‘dirty bomb’ attack

Source: The post is based on the article “Russia tells China, India Ukraine planning ‘dirty bomb’ attack” published in TOI on 26th October 2022

What is the News?

Russia has delivered a letter to the United Nations claiming that Ukraine is preparing to detonate a dirty bomb on its territory. The allegations, however, have been denied by Ukraine.

What is Dirty Bomb?

A dirty bomb also known as a radiological dispersal device is a weapon that combines conventional explosives like dynamite and radioactive material such as uranium.

The primary objective of a dirty bomb is to create panic, confusion and anxiety by hurling radioactive dust and smoke into the atmosphere. Hence, it has been long feared as a potential weapon of terrorists.

A dirty bomb doesn’t need to contain highly refined radioactive material, as is used in a nuclear bomb. Instead, it could use radioactive materials from hospitals, nuclear power stations or research laboratories. This makes them much cheaper and quicker to make than nuclear weapons.

How is a Dirty Bomb different from a nuclear bomb?

A dirty bomb is not a nuclear bomb. A nuclear bomb creates an explosion that is millions of times more powerful than a dirty bomb. A dirty bomb rather than being a “weapon of mass destruction” is a “weapon of mass disruption,” where contamination and anxiety are the major objectives.

Is the dirty bomb dangerous?

A dirty bomb is a psychological weapon. The scattered material after an explosion depends on many other factors such as wind at the time of the blast. The radioactive spread, if inhaled near the blast, could be somewhat dangerous.

Previously, there is no record of a successful dirty bomb explosion anywhere in the world. However, multiple attempts have failed.