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Toxic Chemicals and Explosive Materials: Terrorism-Related Issues for the Research Community, Chemical Industry, and Government
Pages 39-46

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From page 39... ... The black powder and the illegal bombing reports were the direct result of two horrendous incidents, the bombing at the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and the first World Trade Center attack. Read the entire page →
From page 40... ... The recommendations of the reports and the recent interviews with chemical industry representatives lead to the following broad categories of needed technology developments: � more sensitivity in detecting and tracking dangerous products or their precursors whenever they are being moved among locations � limiting access to these materials through increased security or more stringent laws and regulations or both � rendering materials unsuitable for terrorist use � developing new technologies for more efficient cleanup of deliberate contaminations All these approaches involve combinations of technology use or development, government actions, and the cooperation of industry. EXPLOSIVES AND THEIR PRECURSOR CHEMICALS The reports that dealt with illegal use of explosives and black powder examined a number of protection concepts: � the addition of detectants to explosives and designated chemicals to make them susceptible to sensitive mass screening devices or animals (dogs) Read the entire page →
From page 41... ... Obviously, this approach will take a long time to permeate the market, and its effectiveness will only be seen if a terrorist uses smuggled military explosives covered by the treaty. The addition of taggants, which can be used to provide critical source and date information before or after an explosion, to commercial explosives was examined and found not to be practical in the United States at this time. Read the entire page →
From page 42... ... This convention is designed to constrain nations, not for suicide terrorists. Another major concern relative to chemical terrorist weapons is the potential sabotage of chemical plants, manufacturing units, or large-volume storage vessels, or even more frightening, the deliberate release of toxic and flammable chemicals from tank cars in heavily populated areas or ships in busy harbors. Read the entire page →
From page 43... ... Specific applications for sensors are � detection of abnormal air quality in buildings, subways, sewer pipes, and other closed areas � detection of explosives in luggage � detection of chemicals or nuclear materials during shipment � early warning of contamination of food and water � long-distance sensors to protect investigators � mapping clouds of poisonous agents � assisting physicians in assessing patient problems and condition � determining level of contamination and when cleanup is complete The principal recommendations are � broad-based exploratory research to ascertain new sensor principles � research to study how animals detect odors � coordination of research and development on sensors and sensor networks with emphasis on systems in the field � technology and verification programs to guide federal research investments and advise state and local authorities on the evolving state of the art The remainder of the report covered findings and recommendations that dealt with the need for technology advances in � filter systems for buildings that would have enough capacity to rapidly decontaminate or even prevent toxic materials from entering the entire air supply � methods to neutralize toxic clouds � methods to decontaminate areas and to dispose of contaminated materials � robotics to protect personnel involved with cleanup � sophisticated mining of databases to give early warning of toxic chemical or biological attacks � improving the government's capability to protect food, water supplies, and pharmaceuticals � better risk assessment technologies to determine the appropriate priority and effort to protect different potential targets � develop an infrastructure of trained personnel and specialized equipment poised to assemble the best response approaches to different types of attacks Read the entire page →
From page 44... ... The chemical industry has long viewed itself as a manufacturer of dangerous materials. Over the decades, often in response to disasters or customer misuse, the industry has developed many procedures to prevent accidents in the manufacture and use of its products. Read the entire page →
From page 45... ... This has been a great contributor to the inherent safety of many processes, but much more needs to be done. A recent article in the American Chemical Society's publication Chemical and Engineering News talked about a strong movement now under way to design chemical processes from the ground up to be inherently safer and simpler to control. Read the entire page →
From page 46... ... 46 URBAN TERRORISM find areas that can benefit from our joint sponsorship of public forums and studies. In my view, in chemical and explosives terrorism, we might consider such topics as � new concepts and principles for sensor technology and capability � practical new concepts for tracing precursor chemicals useful for chemical weapons or explosives � the use of databases and data mining to detect suspicious activity � interaction between our respective chemical industries and their associations to encourage sharing ideas of ways to interfere with terrorists � the concept that future chemical plant construction incorporates specific features to make plants inherently safer and secure from sabotage � the tension between civil rights versus effective terrorism prevention Read the entire page →

From page 39...

... The black powder and the illegal bombing reports were the direct result of two horrendous incidents, the bombing at the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and the first World Trade Center attack.

Read the entire page →

From page 40...

... The recommendations of the reports and the recent interviews with chemical industry representatives lead to the following broad categories of needed technology developments: � more sensitivity in detecting and tracking dangerous products or their precursors whenever they are being moved among locations � limiting access to these materials through increased security or more stringent laws and regulations or both � rendering materials unsuitable for terrorist use � developing new technologies for more efficient cleanup of deliberate contaminations All these approaches involve combinations of technology use or development, government actions, and the cooperation of industry. EXPLOSIVES AND THEIR PRECURSOR CHEMICALS The reports that dealt with illegal use of explosives and black powder examined a number of protection concepts: � the addition of detectants to explosives and designated chemicals to make them susceptible to sensitive mass screening devices or animals (dogs)

Read the entire page →

From page 41...

... Obviously, this approach will take a long time to permeate the market, and its effectiveness will only be seen if a terrorist uses smuggled military explosives covered by the treaty. The addition of taggants, which can be used to provide critical source and date information before or after an explosion, to commercial explosives was examined and found not to be practical in the United States at this time.

Read the entire page →

From page 42...

... This convention is designed to constrain nations, not for suicide terrorists. Another major concern relative to chemical terrorist weapons is the potential sabotage of chemical plants, manufacturing units, or large-volume storage vessels, or even more frightening, the deliberate release of toxic and flammable chemicals from tank cars in heavily populated areas or ships in busy harbors.

Read the entire page →

From page 43...

... Specific applications for sensors are � detection of abnormal air quality in buildings, subways, sewer pipes, and other closed areas � detection of explosives in luggage � detection of chemicals or nuclear materials during shipment � early warning of contamination of food and water � long-distance sensors to protect investigators � mapping clouds of poisonous agents � assisting physicians in assessing patient problems and condition � determining level of contamination and when cleanup is complete The principal recommendations are � broad-based exploratory research to ascertain new sensor principles � research to study how animals detect odors � coordination of research and development on sensors and sensor networks with emphasis on systems in the field � technology and verification programs to guide federal research investments and advise state and local authorities on the evolving state of the art The remainder of the report covered findings and recommendations that dealt with the need for technology advances in � filter systems for buildings that would have enough capacity to rapidly decontaminate or even prevent toxic materials from entering the entire air supply � methods to neutralize toxic clouds � methods to decontaminate areas and to dispose of contaminated materials � robotics to protect personnel involved with cleanup � sophisticated mining of databases to give early warning of toxic chemical or biological attacks � improving the government's capability to protect food, water supplies, and pharmaceuticals � better risk assessment technologies to determine the appropriate priority and effort to protect different potential targets � develop an infrastructure of trained personnel and specialized equipment poised to assemble the best response approaches to different types of attacks

Read the entire page →

From page 44...

... The chemical industry has long viewed itself as a manufacturer of dangerous materials. Over the decades, often in response to disasters or customer misuse, the industry has developed many procedures to prevent accidents in the manufacture and use of its products.

Read the entire page →

From page 45...

... This has been a great contributor to the inherent safety of many processes, but much more needs to be done. A recent article in the American Chemical Society's publication Chemical and Engineering News talked about a strong movement now under way to design chemical processes from the ground up to be inherently safer and simpler to control.

Read the entire page →

From page 46...

... 46 URBAN TERRORISM find areas that can benefit from our joint sponsorship of public forums and studies. In my view, in chemical and explosives terrorism, we might consider such topics as � new concepts and principles for sensor technology and capability � practical new concepts for tracing precursor chemicals useful for chemical weapons or explosives � the use of databases and data mining to detect suspicious activity � interaction between our respective chemical industries and their associations to encourage sharing ideas of ways to interfere with terrorists � the concept that future chemical plant construction incorporates specific features to make plants inherently safer and secure from sabotage � the tension between civil rights versus effective terrorism prevention

Read the entire page →

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Toxic Chemicals and Explosive Materials: Terrorism-Related Issues for the Research Community, Chemical Industry, and Government Pages 39-46

Toxic Chemicals and Explosive Materials: Terrorism-Related Issues for the Research Community, Chemical Industry, and Government
Pages 39-46