The chances of a dirty bomb being dropped on Calgary's Olympic Plaza may be slim, but the impact would be devastating for decades to come.
Contaminating dozens to thousands of Calgarians in one horrendous flash, the panic from such an explosion could be destructive beyond belief.
"The materials that would be in that dirty bomb would certainly be hazardous to humans," said John Mercer, University of Alberta associate professor of medicine.
ALL DEPENDS ON EXPOSURE
"The higher the exposure, the more immediate the health effects," he said.
In addition, while illness from the radiation may be rapid, Mercer said it can also have devastating effects years down the road.
"Lung cancer or even childhood leukemia are some of the results that you can see years or even decades after such an event has happened," he said.
A dirty bomb detonates -- with explosives such as dynamite, easily accessed from construction sites -- and quickly and widely spreads radioactive material.
And if one were to be detonated, even the explosion itself could be deadly on a busy downtown street.
"Another problem with these dirty bombs is that the contamination that they release has a very long lifetime," Mercer said.
"You're looking at decades of time before the place might be habitable again."
And vehicles, wildlife, wind and rain will only add to the spread of radiation, he said.
Some American experts argue while a dirty bomb device could release relatively small amounts of radiation over several city blocks, the devastating effect would lie in the panic that would surely ensue.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. NoNonsense English offers this material non-commercially for research and educational purposes. I believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, i.e. the media service or newspaper which first published the article online and which is indicated at the top of the article unless otherwise specified.