The distinction between N and R is typically that N relates to fissile material and the nuclear fission process while R originates from radioactive sources without a direct link to nuclear fission. According to this definition, nuclear explosives should be categorized as nuclear scenarios in line with events related to nuclear installations such as nuclear power plants, while dirty bombs should be included as radiological scenarios. However, in ARGOS it is more convenient to treat nuclear bombs and radiological bombs in a similar way as sources for distribution of radioactive materials in an urban environment.
Consequently, ARGOS handles both nuclear and radiological bombs as radiological scenarios. Radiological scenarios are likely to result in fallout of radioactive material as well as contamination on the ground, vegetation, walls of buildings, roofs etc.
On top of the general functionality, ARGOS has the following features for Radiological incidents.
Radiological Dispersal Devices (RDD)
The support of Radiological Dispersal Devices (RDD) or so-called “dirty bombs” represent rather primitive weapons where radioactive material is dispersed into the environment by means of conventional explosive materials.
Improvised Nuclear Devices (IND)
The handling of nuclear weapons in ARGOS is limited to so-called Improvised Nuclear Devices (IND). These are primitive nuclear weapons with limited destruction capability. Professional weapons that could result in massive destruction of the infrastructure of the urban environment are not considered. The purpose is therefore to handle terrorist initiated events and not a nuclear war. However, even smaller nuclear weapons may have long-range consequences, especially under stable meteorological conditions.