U.S. Called Unprepared For Nuclear Terrorism

Department officials also say they have made strides in the monumental task of establishing standard protocols and plans among federal agencies, and with state and local authorities, on how to prepare for and respond to different types of terrorist attacks.

Homeland Security officials point with pride to the nuclear response training given to 2,200 first responders. But domestic defense experts point out there are 2 million such firefighters, police officers and emergency medical personnel nationwide.

More of them need crucial training in the dangers of radiation, how to limit their own exposure to it, how to triage victims and how to decontaminate them, they say. Many experts believe the government needs to train responders in these techniques and, more fundamentally, decide what their jobs would be in a nuclear attack.

A 2003 report by the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), designated "For Official Use Only," said the government lacks rules and standards for sending first responders into radiated areas to save people or warn them of approaching fallout. This would include standards for radiation exposure for firefighters and how to decide where to deploy responders.

The prospect of a nuclear strike "requires a fundamental shift in radiological protection policy for members of the public and emergency responders," the report added. Officials said work in these areas has barely begun.

In detailing the consequences of a 10-kiloton bomb attack on Washington, the NNSA document, and another prepared in July 2004 by the Homeland Security Council (HSC), used different wind projections and assumptions about the government's success in evacuating residents.

The HSC document, also stamped "For Official Use Only," shows a radioactive plume heading east over Prince George's and Anne Arundel counties, killing 99,000 to 190,000 people. The NNSA report describes a cloud moving northeast over Prince George's and Howard counties, and, assuming less success in evacuation, estimates 300,000 deaths.

A blast from a 10-kiloton weapon would destroy everything within a half-mile, the reports say, and cause severe damage for miles beyond. Many people would suffer "flash blindness" from the explosion.

First responders would be unlikely to enter the blast zone but would establish care centers upwind to help victims who escape, the reports say. "Triage will be a major issue," the HSC report said, noting that because of the huge numbers of victims, responders will have to turn away people too sick from radiation to survive.

In the end, years of cleanup of 3,000 to 5,000 square miles would be needed, the reports say. They also raise the possibility of forever abandoning many radiated neighborhoods. An atomic strike on this country "would forever change the American psyche, its politics and worldview," according to the White House report.

The government also has failed to communicate well with the public about nuclear dangers, terrorism experts said.

In late 2003, months after the debut of Homeland Security's Ready.gov Web site, Rand Corp. released a detailed study advising individuals on responding to various attack scenarios -- but with starkly different recommendations.