02 Nov Attack of Dirty Bomb
Attack of Dirty Bomb
Details on the Topic “Attack of Dirty Bomb”
Moscow to New Delhi and Beijing, about the dirty bomb attack by Ukraine
Syllabus
Prelims: Current events of national and international importance, topics related to the scene and.
Mains: GS paper II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian Diaspora
Significance of Prelims: Dirty bomb, the atomic bomb.
Significance of Mains: Ukraine and Russia relationship, India counter step, use of Dirty bomb, a difference between of dirty bomb and the atomic bomb.
Context:
- Russian defence minister convey Moscow’s concern about a purported Ukrainian plan to use a “dirty Bomb” to Mr Sergei Shoigu, the Defence Minister of China and Rajnath Singh, the Defence minister of India.
What does Russia allege?
- Moscow sent a letter detailing its allegations about Kyiv to the United Nations late on Monday, and diplomats said Russia planned to raise the issue at a closed meeting with the Security Council on Tuesday(22nd October).
- Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of Russian nuclear, biological and chemical protection troops, stated before the media briefing Ukraine’s aim for such an attack would be to blame Russia.
- “The aim of the provocation would be to accuse Russia of using a weapon of mass destruction in the Ukrainian military theatre and by that means to launch a powerful anti-Russian campaign in the world, aimed at undermining trust in Moscow.”
What is the response of Ukraine and the West?
- Kyiv and its Western allies say Moscow’s allegation that Ukraine would intentionally make some of its own territory uninhabitable is absurd, especially at a time when Ukrainian forces are recapturing territory on the battlefield.
- In a joint statement, the United States, Britain, and France called the Russian allegations “transparently false” and warned Moscow against using them as a “pretext” for escalation.
- The Kremlin warned the West on Tuesday(22nd October)it was dangerous to dismiss Moscow’s position.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested Moscow might be using the allegations as cover for plans for a similar attack of its own:
- “If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this.”
About Dirty Bomb
- It is a dispersion device that contains radioactive material, mostly uranium, but more expectedly low-grade material like caesium -137 or other radioactive materials which are commonly used.
- It is used in a nuclear bomb, it does not require to contain highly refined radioactive material. As an alternative, it can use radioactive material from hospitals, nuclear power stations or laboratories.
- Because of this reason, it becomes cheaper as well as it is easier to put it together in comparison to other nuclear weapons.
- For: they are so small they can be carried in the back of a vehicle
Pic: Dirty Bomb
What are the concerns:
- As most of the people in the targeted area will have sufficient time to escape prior to the lethal doses of radiation, the instantaneous health impact is expected to be limited.
- As humans cannot see, smell, feel or taste radiation, it could be dangerous to health if it is inhaled because the radioactive dust and smoke can diffuse in the air and spread farther away.
- Evacuation from an urban area or abandoning a whole city can massively damage the economy.
Why are dirty bombs used?
- A dirty bomb has not been used to date.
- These bombs might be used to create mass panic as a weapon of terror
- The contamination and decontamination of victims, along with this decontamination of the effects on the area can take a long time and expense too.
- Restoring the areas partly unusable and causing economic damage
How dirty bomb is different from the atomic bombs used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
They are totally different
| Atomic bomb | Dirty bomb |
| The atomic explosions that
occurred in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were caused by nuclear weapons |
A dirty bomb is a conventional explosive device
that has been adapted to spread radioactive material and contaminate only a small area. |
| involves the splitting of atoms and a
huge release of energy that produces the atomic mushroom cloud. |
the material will disperse as a result of the explosion,
areas near the blast will be contaminated. |
| When the dynamite or other explosives are set off, the blast carries radioactive material into the surrounding area. | The level of contamination will depend on how much
radioactive material was in the bomb, as well as the weather conditions at the time of the blast. |
What are the Indian government’s steps
- New Delhi issued an advisory on 19th October,
- Warning its citizen against travelling to Ukraine
- and asking students who returned to the country to leave in view of the “deteriorating security situation”.
Sources
Further, read:
Russia -Ukraine War
Geopolitical relations between Russia and Ukraine
Geographical locations.
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