New detection equipment tested in Seattle

03/28/2003

By GLENN FARLEY / KING 5 News

SEATTLE – Seattle is again the focus of experimental weapons for the war on terrorism. Next month, Seattle will hold an exercise to see how it would deal with the explosion of a "dirty bomb."

A dirty bomb is not a nuclear bomb, but a conventional explosive packed with something radioactive, such as part of an x-ray machine from a hospital.

Friday, the Seattle Fire Department showed new devices to measure not only radiation, but the type of radiation present.

If a radioactive cloud would travel over Seattle, who would have to evacuate?

Also, police and firefighters will begin wearing cards that tell them when they've been exposed to radiation and how much.

“I feel safe, if I look down here and see that I have not reached my maximum dose, I can continue to function properly,” said Lt. Harold Webb, Seattle Fire HazMat Team.

A hand-held computer stores information on 8000 chemicals, including those that can be used by terrorists. Within 20 seconds, it can assess how much of an area needs to be evacuated, including downwind and crosswind evacuation distances.

The fire department has been working with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to determine where a radioactive cloud would travel, who would need to get out of the way, and who wouldn't.

“If we have such an event, how big an area is going to be affected, how much time are we going to have if we're talking about evacuating,” said Don Ermak, Lawrence Livermore Lab.

The model is built around a possible anthrax release in downtown Seattle.

Next month, the city will hold what they call a top-off exercise from firefighters on the street to the mayor and federal officials to determine just how prepared the city is in case of a terror attack.

The new equipment is paid for with a federal grant.