ASSESSMENT OF RDD EVENT MEDICAL RESPONSE, RECOVERY, AND MITIGATION IN A WORLD OF ONE SCIENCE

The purpose of this study is to perform an objective assessment of current medical operational capabilities, gaps, and shortfalls pertaining to RDD response in the context of specific representative study parameters (Cs-137, Am-241, and Co-60). Devices such as blood and research irradiators and teletherapy machines containing these radionuclides are considered of greatest relative risk for malevolent acquisition and are in greatest quantity and distribution throughout the U.S. according to the NRC Interim Database (RDD Global Protection Architecture, L. Connell and L. Trost, May 2006). Unlike improvised nuclear devices, RDDs are more likely to result in large-scale medical effects secondary to contamination and psychological effects rather than the widescale death and destruction due to a fission devices (Personal Communication, Dr. Roger Hagengruber, Director, Institute of Public Policy and the Office of Policy, Security, and Technology, University of New Mexico ). Although the global threat of nuclear devices is clearly a high priority for our Nation, the ubiquitous nature of sources for RDDs, namely, Cobalt60, Americium-241, and Cesium-137 are of great national concern due to the lower security measures employed to safeguard, track, and account for these materials, and due to the pervasive commercial and industrial usage.