dirty bomb
Contamination-spreading weapon
A dirty bomb is a conventional explosive device designed to scatter radioactive material over a wide area.
Unlike nuclear weapons, dirty bombs don't produce atomic explosions—they use ordinary explosives to disperse radioactive contamination, making an area dangerous or uninhabitable.
The term appears frequently in discussions of terrorism and homeland security: Officials warned that a dirty bomb could render downtown uninhabitable for years.
- falloutPost-blast atmospheric particles
- radiologicalInvolving emission-based imaging
- cesium-137Radioactive fission byproduct
- radiationEnergy propagation through space
- explosiveProne to sudden detonation
contamination · weapon · weapon of mass destruction · fission · nuclear · strontium-90 · cobalt-60 · dispersal · nuclear fallout · blast · radionuclides · isotope · radioactive material · hazmat · first responders · suitcase · attack · terrorist
- Nuclear Armsnuclear arms, nukes, nuclear warheads, hydrogen bombs, H-bombs
- nuclear securitynon-proliferation, nonproliferation, weapons inspectors, nuclear facility, nuclear site
- nuclear weaponswarheads, warhead, nuclear warhead, nuke, nuclear missile
- Terrorismterrorism, terror cell, suicide attack, terrorist, jihad
- Explosivesdynamite, grenade, TNT, C-4, land mine
- Nuclear Threatsnuclear threat, nuclear terrorism, plutonium, enriched uranium, radioactive material
dirty bombnuclear warhead
Fission-based explosive device
thermonuclear weapon · hydrogen bomb · atomic bomb · ICBM · cruise missile
dirty, bomb, bombed, bombing, bomber, bombard, dirtied, dirtiness, dirtier