Benchmark Two
(2004-2005)

Your task is to investigate and comprehend incidents involving radioactive materials and radiation dispersal devices or RDDs (weapons). In your investigations you will examine the objectives from the point of view of the scientific & environmental; social & cultural; economic; political & geopolitical domains to gain a comprehensive understanding of these incidents and these weapons.

Objective 1: Determine where incidents involving radioactive materials have taken place and what caused them to happen.

Suggested activities:
1) Make a map of the world showing where major incidents, including space vehicles, involving radioactive materials have taken place to date.
2) Make a companion list of incidents that have resulted in major disruption of everyday life, death, sickness or extensive contamination.
3) Choose three incidents from the above lists and describe how they happened and how they might have been prevented.
4) Discuss what these incidents might teach us about a past or future incident caused by sabotage.

Objective 2: Describe how radioactive materials might be used by a military force or terrorist group and identify probable local, regional, national and global effects of such use.

Suggested activities:
1) Research designs for, and describe, a "dirty bomb."
2) There has recently been speculation among the media regarding scenarios involving the intentional release of radiation. Research, find, and analyze such an event in terms of the CIF domains.
3) Research and describe the probable effects of a "dirty bomb" on a population center.
4) Create a scenario, not already discussed in the media, that you feel might be an effective way for terrorists to use radioactive materials in an attack.
5) Create an annotated timeline, website, animation, video or other presentation on a successful attack on a nuclear power plant. Show what would occur over a period of a several weeks. Also describe what would happen geographically from ground zero outwards.
6) Research and conduct a discussion on the extent of the disruption to a community such an event would cause.
7) Investigate how depleted uranium is used by the military and whether it causes negative effects on health and/or the environment.

Objective 3: Determine why terrorists might use radioactive materials as a weapon rather than more conventional materials.

Suggested activities:
1) Research motivations that a terrorist or a terrorist organization might have for using a device that consists of radioactive materials rather than other materials.
2) Research and list groups or organizations reported to be actively considering the use of radiation or radioactive materials as a terrorist device or which has built such a device.
3) Identify methods these groups might use to obtain radioactive materials.
4) Identify problems these groups might encounter in their efforts to obtain these materials.

http://www.criticalissuesforum.org/bmk05_2.html
updated 06 February 2005