CBRNE Security Managers, First Responders, Analysts and Advisors

At the end of the course students will have acquired basic technical/scientific knowledge about all aspects of CBRNE threats and hazards, they will know how to operate open access CBRNE software and of course they will be able to simulate CBRNE threats and hazards, providing timely analysis and advice about assessing/preventing the threat/risk and mitigating the effects of a CBRNE attacks and/or accidents.

Course Units Description

1.1 Nuclear Reactors & Nuclear Waste (Basic Science & Technology)

This Unit presents/analyzes the basic scientific and technological aspects of the production of nuclear fuel and nuclear energy and the subsequent generation of nuclear waste and other byproducts.

It consists of the following subunits:

Enrichment Feedstocks Production
Uranium Enrichment Processes
Nuclear Fission Reactors
Plutonium Extraction (Reprocessing)
Lithium Production
Heavy Water Production
Tritium Production
Nuclear Waste Management

1.2 Nuclear & Radiological Weapons (Basic Science & Technology)

This unit examines the basic science and technologies needed to design, test, and finally construct nuclear and radiological weapons and to employ both kinds of weapons either for military purposes or in terrorist attacks. It consists of the following subunits:

Nuclear Weapons Design and Development
Safing, Arming, Fuzing, and Firing
Radiological Weapons
Manufacturing of Nuclear Components
Nuclear Weapons Development Testing
Nuclear Weapons Custody, Transport, and Control

1.3 Chemical & Biological Weapons (Basic Science & Technology)

Biological agents are naturally occurring microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi) or toxins that can cause disease and death in a target population. They can also attack the food supply and/or materiel of a nation. Chemical weapons are defined as weapons using the toxic properties of chemical substances rather than their explosive properties to produce physical or physiological effects on an enemy. This unit examines the basic science and technologies needed to construct chemical and biological weapons and to employ them either for military purposes or an act of terror. It consists of the following subunits

Biological Materials Production
Chemical Material Production

1.4 Explosives, Ammunition and IEDs (Basic Science & Technology)

This unit gives an overview of major explosive substances used in military or terrorist operations (dynamite, Composition, C4, ANFO, etc) and then presents various types of explosive ammunitions and improvised explosive devices (artillery shells, grenades, arial bombs, mines, explosive warheads, pipe bombs, pressures cooker bombs etc). Basic scientific and technological facts are given for the above so that the student will be able to apply open access CBRNE software, charts, tables and figures in order to simulate explosive weapons attacks and assess the effect.

2.1 HOTSPOT

The HotSpot Health Physics codes were created by the LLNL to provide emergency response personnel and emergency planners with a fast, field-portable set of software tools for evaluating incidents involving radioactive material. The software is also used for safety-analysis of facilities handling nuclear material. HotSpot codes are a first-order approximation of the radiation effects associated with the atmospheric release of radioactive materials. The HotSpot codes have been completely revised to take advantage of the Windowsβ 95/98/00/NT operating system environment. The HotSpot codes are designed for short-term (less than a few hours) release durations. Four general programs Plume, Explosion, Fire, and Resuspension estimate the downwind radiological impact following the release of radioactive material resulting from a continuous or puff release, explosive release, fuel fire, or an area contamination event. Additional programs deal specifically with the release of plutonium, uranium, and tritium to expedite an initial assessment of accidents involving nuclear weapons..

2.2. EPICODE & ALOHA

EPIcode 7.0 was developed to provide emergency response personnel and emergency planners with a software tool to help evaluate the atmospheric release of toxic substances and allows fast estimation and assessment of chemical-release scenarios. The software can also be used for safety-analysis planning purposes on facilities handling toxic materials. Additionally, this program can provide a rapid first-order check against complex and more data-intensive models. EPIcode will provide a reasonable level of accuracy for a timely initial assessment. More importantly, EPIcode will produce a consistent output for the same input assumptions and minimize the probability of errors associated with reading a graph incorrectly or scaling a universal nomogram during an emergency. The EPIcode Library contains a library of over 2,000 chemical substances along with the associated exposure levels accepted by various professional organizations and regulatory agencies. These include all of the current American Industrial Hygiene Association Emergency Response Planning Guidelines (ERPGs), Department of Energy Temporary Emergency Exposure Limits (TEELs), and Acute Exposure Guideline Limits (AEGLs). The EPIcode Library also contains information on substances listed in the Threshold Limit Values for Chemical Substances and Physical Agents and Biological Exposure Indices published by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. IDLH (Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health) data are also included when available. There other more advanced versions of EPICODE which are not publicly available.

ALOHA (Areal Locations of Hazardous Atmospheres) is a modeling program that estimates threat zones associated with hazardous chemical releases, including toxic gas clouds, fires, and explosions. A threat zone is an area where a hazard (such as toxicity) has exceeded a user-specified Level of Concern (LOC). ALOHA is part of the CAMEO® software suite of products for emergency responders and planners.

Generates a variety of scenario-specific output, including threat zones, threat at specific locations, and source strenght graphs.
Calculates how quickly chemicals are escaping from tanks, puddles (on both land and water), and gas pipelines—and predicts how those release rates change over time.
Models many release scenarios: toxic gas clouds, BLEVEs (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosions), jet fires, vapor cloud explosions, pool fires, and flammable areas.
Evaluates different types of hazards (depending on the release scenario): toxicity, flammability, thermal radiation, and overpressure.
Displays threat zones on MARPLOT maps (and also on Esri's ArcMap with the ALOHA ArcMap Import Tool and Google Maps and Google Earth using the export as KML feature).
Works seamlessly with companion programs CAMEO Chemicals and MARPLOT; it can also be used as a standalone program.

2.3 NUKEMAP

Nukemap is an interactive map using Mapbox] API and declassified nuclear weapons effects data, which enables users to model the explosion of nuclear weapons (contemporary, historical, or of any given arbitrary yield) on virtually any terrain and at virtually any altitude of their choice.

2.4 CERES

CERES is a software as a service application used for preparing, responding, and analyzing chemical incidents, fire incidents and explosions. CERES FREE gives you full features access to ALOHA chemical dispersion model jointly developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office (CEPPO), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Response and Restoration (NOAA) of the US Government. CERES base will always be free and runs on your desktop, mobile device or tablet. CERES PRO takes you beyond ALOHA with Google maps integration, live traffic, street view, sensor driven plume, predefined scenario developments, planning tools, advanced reporting functions, KML plume plot and impacted receptors import/export, live meteorological and sensor data, sharing and collaboration.

3.1 Nuclear Reactors & Nuclear Waste (Risk/Threat Analysis and Management)

The HOTSPOT Health Physics Codes, produced by the LLNL is publicly available and can be used in this unit to simulate minor and major releases of nuclear material and nuclear reactor accidents. The following simulations are performed (case studies) in order to teach the students how to perform their own ad-hoc simulations for similar cases.

Nuclear Reactor Accidents
Plutonium Explosion
Plutonium Fire
Plutonium Resuspension
Uranium Explosion
Uranium Fire
Tritium Release

3.2 Nuclear & Radiological Weapons (Risk/Threat Analysis and Management)

This unit focuses on the effects of nuclear and radiological weapons after an introduction to their means of delivery (applied to chemical, biological and explosive weapons). Equipped with such scientific knowledge as blast, thermal, radiological (stochastic and deterministic ones) and EMP effects of a nuclear weapons the student will be able to apply open access software in order to simulate various nuclear and radiological attacks (and/or accidents related accidents)

Means of Delivery
Underground Nuclear Weapons Effects (NWE) Testing
Blast and Shock Effects from Nuclear Detonations
Nuclear Thermal Radiation Effects
Transient Radiation Effects in Electronics (TREE) and
Systems-Generated Electromagnetic Pulse (SGEMP) Effects
Nuclear Effects on Electromagnetic Signal Propagation
High-Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) Effects
Source Region Electromagnetic Pulse (SREMP) Effects
Pulsed-Power Nuclear Weapons Effects Simulation
Simulations of Nuclear and Radiological Weapons Attacks/Releases.

(Case Studies): Fission Weapons, Boosted Fission Weapons, Thermonuclear Weapons, Dirty Bombs (RDD)

3.3 Chemical & Biological Weapons (Risk/Threat Analysis and Management)

This unit focuses on the effects of chemical and biological weapons effects (their means of delivery are mostly the same as in the case of nuclear and explosive weapons). Equipped with the necessary scientific knowledge the student will be able to apply revenant CBRNE software (EPICODE, ALOHA, CERES) to simulate various chemical and biological attacks

It consists of the following subunits:

Stabilization, dissemination, and dispersion of biological weapons
Detection warning and identification of biological weapons
Biological Defense Systems
Dissemination, dispersion, and testing of chemical weapons
Detection, warning, and identification of chemical weapons
Chemical Defense systems
Simulations of Chemical and Biological Weapons Attacks/Releases.

3.4 Explosives, Ammunition and IEDs (Risk/Threat Analysis and Management)

This unit describes the destructive effects caused by Improvised Explosive Devices, Ammunition and various explosive substances. It implements the CBRNE software presented and analyzed in the second unit of this program in practical simulations. Stand-off distances, biological effects on humans and damages on buildings are the main result and information of these simulations which can be studied in order to reduce the impact of bombs, rockets, mines, cluster munitions, terrorist explosive devices, ammunition storage area accidents and other explosive hazards.

Online and distance training learning at National and Kapodistrian University of Athens offers a new way of combining innovative learning and training techniques with interaction with your tutor and fellow trainees from around the world.

The e-learning course is implemented via a user-friendly educational platform adjusted to the Distance Learning Principles. Courses are structured as weekly online meetings; interaction with the course tutor and other trainees takes place in a digital learning environment. The courses are designed to fit around your schedule; you access the course whenever it is convenient for you, however within the given deadlines.

The whole world becomes your classroom as e-learning can be done on laptops, tablets and phones as a very mobile method. Learning can be done on the train, on a plane or even during your trip to Greece!

The educational platform is a portal that offers access to electronic educational material based on modern distance learning technologies. The computer based nature of training means new technology is being introduced all the time to help trainees engage and learn in a tailored way that will meet their needs. E-learners have access to the educational platform with their personal code number in order to browse all relevant training material and interact with their instructors.

Moreover, an online communication system through own personal e-mail account is available in order to make the process easier and more interactive. Trainees can contact directly their tutors or the administration office of the course and share any concerns or anxieties related to the course in order to make the most of their experience.

Every week e-learners are provided with the relevant material, delivered either in the form of video-lectures, text notes and relevant presentations or as a combination of them. The educational material of the course is uploaded gradually, per educational unit. During the course, important info for the smooth conduct of the educational process, such as timetables for the submission of the exercises are announced on the Announcement section of the platform.

For successful completion of the course the e-learner should have fulfill her/his academic obligations, meaning should have submitted all corresponding assessment exercises and have achieved at least an average of 50% grade in the corresponding tests for each module. The score scale ranges from 0 to 100%. Finally, if the total score on one or more lessons of the course does not exceed 50%, trainees can ask for reassessment.

During the course trainees will be attending a training experience designed by academics and lecturers from the National University of Athens as well as from other Universities, Research Institutes and Cultural organizations around Greece.

Interactivity, flexibility and our long tradition guarantee that learning with us offers a successful and rewarding experience. Finally, access to a large variety of material and online resources available in each unit aims to excite your curiosity and guide you in exploring further your favourite topic. Part of the online material can be downloaded providing the chance to quickly refresh your memory after the completion of the course.