629 Views

Dirty Bomb padha kyaa?

Shashank Sachi November 2, 2022 5 MINUTES

Why in news: In Russia’s latest advocacy campaign over its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has focused on accusations that Kyiv might be planning to use a so-called “dirty bomb” – a conventional explosive device laced with toxic nuclear material.

Dirty Bomb:

It is a bomb that contains radioactive material, such as uranium, which is scattered through the air when its conventional explosive detonates.
It doesn't need to contain highly refined radioactive material, as is used in a nuclear bomb. Instead, it could use radioactive materials from hospitals, nuclear power stations or research laboratories.
This makes them much cheaper and quicker to make than nuclear weapons. They can also be carried in the back of a vehicle.
However, as weapons, they are very unreliable.
For the radioactive material in a dirty bomb to be scattered across its target zone, it has to be reduced to powder form.
But if the particles are too fine or released into strong winds, they will scatter too widely to do much harm.

Material used:

Cesium-137
Cobalt-60
Iridium-192
Dynamite

Reference: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-63373637

Current Affairs Notes By Success Mantra Coaching Institute GTB Nagar Delhi CLICK HERE

The above issue can be linked with:

Weapons of Mass destruction
Manhattan project: 1942
NPT
IAEA
UN Treaty on prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
Russia-Ukraine - Zaporizhzhya
Nuclear Power Plant

Reference Video for above topic:

PRAVAHINI Current Affairs Notes By Success Mantra Coaching Institute GTB Nagar Delhi CLICK HERE

Practice Time:

Q1. In India, why are some nuclear reactors kept under “IAEA Safeguards” while others are not?

Some use Uranium and others use thorium.
Some use imported uranium and others use domestic supplies.
Some are operated by foreign enterprises and others are operated by domestic enterprises.
Some are State-owned and others are privately-owned.

Answer: B

Q2. With reference to Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty(NPT), consider the following statements:

It establishes a safeguards system under the responsibility of the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA).
India and Israel are the only non-signatories of the treaty.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?