The document provides a historical overview of CBRN incidents from antiquity to present day. It summarizes the development and use of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear agents in warfare, terrorism, and accidents. Key events discussed include the first large-scale chemical weapons attack in WWI, development of chemical and biological weapons programs by numerous nations in the 20th century, industrial accidents like Bhopal, and the first and only uses of nuclear weapons in wartime. The document aims to contextualize CBRN threats by examining the history of related agents and incidents.

1. Topic 3.1: CBRN extras
Module3: CBRN extras

2. Learning objective: To identify historical CBRN events and put them
into context
Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: developmentof agents, actual
incidentsfrom the past & context

3. ElaboratedHistory: (non)deliberaterelease
• Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context
Radiological & Nuclear agents
Biological agents
Chemical agents

4. ElaboratedHistory: (non)deliberaterelease
• Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context
Radiological & Nuclear agents
Biological agents
Chemical agents
Non-deliberate release:
Accidental or naturally released which has the
potential to cause physical or psychological harm to
humans, including loss of life, damage or losses of
property, and/or disruption to the environment or of
economic social, political structures
Deliberate release:
Intentional release or dissemination by state-actors or
individuals, to cause fear, illness or death in people, animals
or plants and/or disrupting social, economic or political
stability.

5. Deliberaterelease
• Warfare
• Intentional release of agents for the purpose of killing or harming enemy
military personnel or populations
• Terrorism
• The intentional release or dissemination by terrorist of agents to cause fear,
illness or death in people, animals or plants and/or disrupting social,
economic or political stability
• Crime
• The use of an agent to kill or make ill a single individual or a small group of
individuals, motivated by revenge or monetary gain through extortion, rather
by than political, ideological, religious or other beliefs.
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

6. ChemicalAgents
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

7. Chemicalwarfare: historic perspective
• 429 BC, Greece Peloponnesian War, the siege of Platea
• Spartans burned sulfur, creating toxic gases, resulting
in Plateans abandoning their posts.
• 1456, Siege of Belgrade
• Alchemist created poison clouds by burning rags that
may have contained chlorine gas
• Fifteenth century
• Leonardo da Vinci designed explosive shells filled with arsenic and sulfur for
use against ships
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

8. Chemicalwarfare: WorldWar I
• 1915-1918, World War I
• French, German, & British troops
• 22 April 1915, Ypres, Belgium:
• First large-scale attack using chemical weapons taking place at Leper
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context
• 124,200 tonnes of chlorine, mustard and
other chemical agents released
• > 90,000 soldiers had suffered painful
deaths due to exposure to them
• ~ 1.000.000 people blind, disfigured or
debilitating injuries

9. Chemicalwarfare: GenevaProtocol
• 1925 Geneva Protocol
• Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other
Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare
• Meant to prevent recurrence of chemical weapons after horrors of World War I
• Prohibits the use of chemical and biological weapons in interstate wars
• Does not prohibit the development, production or possession of chemical and
biologiweapons
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

10. Chemicalwarfare: Chemicalweaponprograms
24 Countries with known or possible chemical weapons after World War II
• USSR
• 1967 decree: directing preparations for chemical-biological war
• The stockpile of chemical weapons consisted of a declared stockpile of
nearly 40,000 metric tons of chemical nerve, blister and choking agents
• United States
• The chemical weapons program began in 1917 during World War I with
the creation of the U.S. Army's Gas Service Section and ended 73 years
later in 1990
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

11. Chemicalwarfare: Late20th century
• 1980-1988, Iran-Iraq war
• Iraq used mustard gas and tabun on Iranian forces and civilians
• 1990-1991, Threat of chemical warfare during the Gulf War
• Late 1980s, Improvement in superpower relations
• 1990, bilateral United States–Soviet Union agreement:
• to destroy most of their Chemical Weapon stockpiles
• to refrain from further CW production
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

12. ChemicalWeapons Convention
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context
• Prohibits the large-scale use, development, production, stockpiling and
transfer of chemical weapons and their precursors
• 1993, Opened for signature
• 1997, Entered into force
• Most states have joined the Chemical Weapons Convention, which
required the destruction of all chemical weapons by 2012.
• Many nations continue to research and/or stockpile chemical weapon
agents despite numerous efforts to reduce or eliminate them.
• According to the United States government, at least 17 nations currently
have active chemical weapons programs.

13. ChemicalWeapons Convention
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context
• Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is the
implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention
• 2013 Nobel Prize for Peace was awarded to the OPCW
As of 31 March 2021:
• 98.5% of world’s declared chemical weapons stockpiles destroyed
• Total destroyed stockpiles of chemical agents: 71,270 metric tonnes
• 97 Chemical Weapons Production Facilities (CWPF) declared
• 74 Destroyed
• 23 Converted for peaceful purpose

14. Chemicalterrorism
• 1995, Aum Shinrikyo cult released Sarin on 3 metro lines, Tokyo, Japan
• 2015, 35 Kurdish fighters wounded in a chemical attack by ISIS terrorists,
Erbil, Iraq
• 2016, ISIS launched a chemical attack on a town injuring 600 persons,
Taza, Iraq
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

15. UN SecurityCouncil Resolution1540 (2004)
• Adopted unanimously on 28 April 2004
• Member States are obliged to prevent the spread of weapons of mass
destruction by non-state actors
• Resolution is universal by covering nuclear, chemical and biological weapons
and their means of delivery
• States are required to ensure a national legal framework of laws, regulations
and controls
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MELODY 3.1.1 Elaborated history : development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

16. Chemicalassasination
• 2018, Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal
• Both were poisoned in Salisbury, England, with a Novichok nerve agent
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

17. Chemicalagents: transport accidents
• 1979, Train derailment, Florida, USA
• Train with 29 cars derailed
• 26 cars contained hazardous materials
• 2 tank cars with anhydrous ammonia ruptured and
rocketed
• 12 tank cars were ruptured, content burned
• acetone, methyl alcohol, chlorine, carbolic acid, and
anhydrous ammonia
• 14 persons were injured as a result of the release
of anhydrous ammonia and other materials or
during the evacuation of 4,500 persons.
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

18. Chemicalagents: industrial accidents(1)
• 1984, chemical plant leakage release, Bhopal, India
• Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal,
released methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas in the night 2 -3
December 1984
• Considered to be the world's worst industrial disaster.
• Over 500,000 people were exposed
• In retrospect (2006): leak caused 560,000 injuries, including
39,000 temporary partial injuries and approximately 4,000
severely and permanently disabling injuries.
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

19. Chemicalagents: industrial accidents(2)
• 2010, Oil spill, Gulf of Mexico, USA
• Upwelling natural gas caused an explosion on
the Deepwater Horizon oil platform in April
• Subsequent sinking of the platform left the oil
well uncovered
• Oil well was declared sealed in September
• Considered the largest marine oil spill
and one of the largest environmental disasters
in American history
• 11 people were killed, 17 people injured
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

20. BiologicalAgents
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

21. • 184 B.C. Naval battle, King Eumenes vs Hannibal of Carthage
• Hanibal’s navy catapulted pots with venomous snakes towards
enemy ships.
• 1346, Siege of Caffa (Feodosia, Crimea), by the Mongolian army
• Tartar forces catapulted bubonic plague victims over the walls of
the city
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context
BiologicalWarfare: historic perspective(I)

22. • 1863, American Civil War. Confederate versus Union forces
• Confederates sell clothing from yellow fever & smallpox patients to
Union troops
• 1916, WW I. Germany (attempted) anti-agricultural biological warfare, by
using
• Ampoules with anthrax, which were placed by agents in horse stables of
Russian forces in Finland
• Acquired laboratory produced glanders to infect livestock in ports &
collection points in the USA
• 1925, Geneva protocol
• Prohibits the use of chemical and biological weapons
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context
BiologicalWarfare: historic perspective(II)

23. Biologicalweapon programs
• Biological weapon: combination of a biological agent with a dissemination
system
• Identification of countries running biological weapon programs is not easy
• Based on what is known, 15 countries had biological weapon programs
• The Soviet Union and US programs have the largest and most
sophisticated programs as compared to the other countries
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MELODY 3.1.1 Elaborated history : development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

24. • Biological weapon programs: USSR (52 sites
employing over 50,000 people)
• 1920 - 1992 (according to Boris Yeltsin)
• 1946: biological weapons facility established in
Sverdlovsk.
• 1973: A "civilian" main directorate, Biopreparat,
was founded.
• Human experimentation occurred with typhus,
glanders and melioidosis in the Solovetsky camp
• Stockpiles of battle-ready biological weapons
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context
Biologicalweapon programs: USSR

25. • Biological weapon programs: USA
• 1943 until 1969
• Fort Detrick
• Laboratory and field testing had been
common, some of the latter using simulants
on non-consenting individuals.
• Stockpiles of battle-ready biological
weapons
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context
Biologicalweapon program:USA

26. Biologicalweapon programs
• 1979, accidentally release of anthrax
• Soviet military research facility near
Sverdlovsk, Russia
• Weaponized Anthrax strain (836)
• Accident during change of filters
• Wind was away from the city
• Deaths ≥ 75
• Reported ill: 120-400
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

27. • Biological weapon programs
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context
Biologicaland ToxinWeapons Convention
Biological and
Toxin Weapons
Convention
BTWC (1972)

28. Biologicalagents: naturalepidemics
• 1918, Spanish flu, influenza pandemic
• Unusually deadly influenza pandemic.
• Estimation 50 million / up to 100 million
deaths, i.e. 3-5 % of Earth's population
• Deadliest epidemics in human history
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

29. Biologicalindustrial outbreak
• 2007 -2011, Q fever outbreak in The Netherlands
• Spill-over from animals to humans
• 5000 people diagnosed with Q fever
• Goats and sheep designated as the source of the outbreak.
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

30. • 1984, Intentional release of Salmonella in salad
bars (The Dallas, Oregon, USA)
• Bhagwan followers contaminated 10 salad bars
with S. enterica Typhimurium
• 2001, Anthrax attacks (Amerithrax), one week
after the September 11 attack
• Letters containing anthrax spores mailed to
news media offices and senators
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context
Biologicalterrorism

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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context
Biologicalassasinations
• 1978 Umbrella murder, London. Bulgarian
dissident (injected with ricin pellet)
• Bulgarian secret police injected Marcov with
ricin, using an umbrella-like device.
• 1996 Intentional release of Shigella dysenteriae
(pastries in laboratory canteen)
• Bacterial strain originated from own laboratory
stock, released by lab technician.

32. Radiologicaland NuclearAgents
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

33. Nuclearwarfare
• USA detonated two bombs over Japan
• 1945 August 6, Hiroshima:
• "Little Boy", uranium gun-type bomb
• blast killed 90-146,000 people
• 1945 August 9, Nagasaki:
• "Fat Man", plutonium implosion bomb
• blast killed 39-80,000 thousand
• people continued to die for months afterwards
• radiation protection today is largely built on the
long-term effects in survivors
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

34. Nuclearweapon programstreaties
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Monitoring network for Nuclear Detonation
• Limited Nuclear Test Ban, 1963
• testing in outer space, underwater or in atmosphere.
• signed by USSR, USA, UK
• Comprehensive Test Ban, 1996
• weapon test or other nuclear explosion
• signed by the five NWS +184 nations
• note: ratification is still in progress
• Non-Proliferation, 1968
• into force 1970
• non-NWS never acquire nuclear weapons
• NWS share benefits of peaceful technology and pursue disarmament
MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context
CNEN, Brazil
• 1960 - 2001 34 incidents worldwide:
• 42 early deaths (children and adults)
• >300 affected
• Orphan sources
• abandoned or never registered
• Teletherapy sources
• Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator
• dismantled for scrap metal or
taken home as they look "interesting"
• Major incident: Goiânia, Brasil, 1987
• 4 death, 129 people affected
• 3500 m3 of radioactive waste
Radiologicalrelease:ignorance

36. • 1987, Iraq tests dirty bomb, radiation level deemed too low, Iraq
• 1995, Cesium found in park in Moscow, Russia
• 1998, Undetonated dirty bomb found in Grozny, Chechnya
• 2002, J. Padilla arrested for planning dirty bomb attack, Chicago, USA
• 2003, British claim Al Qaeda built a dirty bomb, statement was withdrawn
• 2006, Litvinenko assassination using Polonium 210, London, UK
• 2007, D. Barot convicted planning dirty bomb attack, UK
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context
Radiologicalterrorism and assasination

37. • Accidents, but no radiological accidents
• To date, none have resulted in any significant releases
• Strict and extensive regulations on
packing prevent accidental releases
• Transported radioactive materials
are not explosive, they do not burn
Radiologicalagents: Transport accidents
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context

38. • Non-deliberate release: transport accidents
• 1968 Thule, USAF B-52 crashed carrying 4 B28FI thermonuclear bombs
• nuclear payload ruptures and dispersed
• Denmark requested removal of all contaminations
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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context
Nuclearmaterials

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MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context
• Non-deliberate release: industrial accidents
• Criticality accidents:
• 23 criticality accidents reported in 1945 - 2003
• most related to nuclear weapons program
• 7 accidents, exposures of the environment,
and potentially to the general public
• Nuclear Power Plants:
• Three Mile Island,1979. Harrisburg, USA
• Reactor 4, 1986, Chernobyl, USSR/Ukraine
• Daiichi, 2011, Fukushima, Japan
Nuclearindustrial accidents

40. Nuclearmaterials:aboveground testing
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• Over 2100 detonations world wide
• Around 500 above ground, continued
until 1975
• Increased background radiation
world wide
MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context
1945
2013
Partial Test-Ban Treaty
opened for signature, 1963
bans atmospheric testing
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
opened for signature, 1996
bans explosive testing

41. Takehome message
• Large scale accidents, deliberate releases and assassinations with CBRN
agents have occurred with long-lasting consequences for man and the
environment
• Treaties to prevent further development and use of CBRN as warfare
agents exist, both for state as for non-state actors, but not all countries
ratified these treaties
MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context 41

42. Thank you for your attention
42
MELDOY Presentation 3.1.1: Elaborated history: development of agents, actual incidents from the past & context