Dinner Seminar: Responding to a Dirty

​Bomb Attack

Keynote:  Dr. James  Conca
When:  Tuesday, May 15th, 2018 starting at 6:00 pm 
Where:  Red Lion Hanford House, 802 George Washington Way, Richland WA
Price:  $20 for ANS-EWS members, 22$ for non members
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Summary of the Professional Seminar

Radiation dispersal devices (RDDs) or dirty bombs use a conventional method, such as a car bomb, to disperse radioactive materials in a populated area in order to cause great economic and social disruption disproportionate to their actual radiological effects. Unlike most sensational depictions, there are only two severe scenarios likely to occur, the 137CsCl car or truck bomb (an RDD), and the 60Co death-mobile (a radiation exposure device or RED). 137CsCl powder is the standard material used in industrial irradiators and the rapidly-growing sterilization industry and has the greatest dispersibility, the most penetrating radiation, and the highest levels of radioactivity per mass of material.  It is also cheap and easy to obtain in large quantities. The severity of the long-term threat of dirty bombs to our national security will depend upon: 1) finding alternative matrices and methods for the radioactive sources best suited for use in dirty bombs, e.g., the 137CsCl powder, 2) implementing first responder training that is specific to dirty bombs, and 3) implementing a simple clean-up response that will avoid lengthy shut-down of the affected area. 


The keynote speaker at this ANS-EWS dinner is Dr. Jim Conca.

Geochemist and Energy scientist, speaker and author Dr. James Conca is Senior Scientist for UFA Ventures, Inc. in the Tri-Cities, Washington, a Trustee of the Herbert M. Parker Foundation, an Adjunct Professor at Washington State University in the School of the Environment, an Affiliate Scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and a Science Contributor to Forbes on energy and nuclear issues. Conca obtained a Ph.D. in Geochemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1985, a Masters in Planetary Science in 1981, and a Bachelors in Geology and Biochemistry from Brown University in 1979.


Please RSVP in the fields below. Members can pay ahead of time or at the dinner itself.