Radiological warfare

Use of radiation as a weapon

Nature

The use of radiological warfare is becoming a viable possibility as more countries are gaining the technology and materials needed for radioactive weaponry. Radiological warfare, which is radioactivity (excluding nuclear bombs) as a means of warfare, could be used on the defensive (to make an area impassable for enemy troops, to halt an armoured attack, to inhibit a river crossing, or to close mountain pass); or on the offensive (to force evacuation from cities, industrial areas and communication centres, thus a wreaking havoc with the economy and fighting potential of the country attacked); or it could simply be used to kill a large number of people. Radioactive elements such as radioactive strontium could be used to poison food or water of an enemy force.

Background

Radiological warfare emerged as a global concern during the early Cold War, when the potential for dispersing radioactive materials as weapons was first seriously contemplated by military strategists. The 1943 “Gaseous Diffusion Plant” memorandum and subsequent declassified reports highlighted the feasibility of radiological weapons, prompting international anxiety. Heightened awareness followed incidents such as the 1987 Goiânia accident, which underscored the vulnerability of civilian populations to radiological contamination and intensified calls for international safeguards.

Incidence

Doctors who carried out some of the government radiation experiments on unwitting citizens of the USA during the Cold War were also studying potential military application of radiological poisons. After feeding rats radioactive elements, in the 1940's one doctor secretly used three terminally ill human patients as experimental subjects to test lethal doses of plutonium. There is fragmentary evidence to suggest that other radioactive substances (including polonium, americium and radium) were injected into other, as yet unidentified subjects. One result of his work was to suggest to the military the use of radioactive smoke (fission product aerosols) as a killing agent for urban populations. (He sought healthy human volunteers to inhale near-lethal doses of radioactive aerosols, but found none. Having received an Atomic Energy Citation for "inspired, effective and pioneering leadership", he died in 1957, aged 49, of a rare form of leukaemia almost certainly caused by exposure to radiation).

Claim

Radiological warfare is a profoundly urgent and dangerous problem that demands immediate global attention. The deliberate use of radioactive materials as weapons poses catastrophic risks to human health, the environment, and international security. Ignoring this threat is reckless; even a single radiological attack could cause mass panic, long-term contamination, and destabilize entire regions. The world must prioritize prevention, preparedness, and strict regulation to avert the devastating consequences of radiological warfare.

Counter-claim

Radiological warfare is not an important problem in today’s world. The likelihood of its use is extremely low due to technical challenges, international oversight, and the existence of far more effective and accessible weapons. Public fear is largely exaggerated by fiction rather than reality. Resources and attention should be focused on more pressing global threats, such as cyberattacks, pandemics, and climate change, rather than on the remote and overhyped risk of radiological warfare.