Clouds of artificial fog could be used to defend nuclear power stations against airborne terrorist attacks under proposals currently being considered in Germany.
A spokeswoman at Germany鈥檚 Federal Environment Ministry confirmed that the companies that operate the country鈥檚 18 nuclear power stations are assessing the installation of artificial fog machines as a defence against suicide attacks from the air, alongside other possibilities.
Under the proposal, 鈥渁 nuclear power plant under attack is surrounded within seconds by an artificial, dense wall of fog鈥�, reads a statement from the ministry.
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Fog or smoke would disguise a power station鈥檚 location from the air. Although radar can penetrate fog, commercial aircraft are not fitted with radar systems capable of identifying structures on the ground.
However, some experts say defending a nuclear plant with fog or smoke would require overcoming numerous problems, including the weather. 鈥淭he big thing is wind,鈥� says Ben Eden, managing director of Pea Soup, a UK-based company that makes fog and smoke machines. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 really windy they would have lost already.鈥�
Start-up time
Eden adds that hiding a large building would require a number of mobile fog or smoke machines, each of which would take up to 10 minutes to start. 鈥淚t could certainly hide the building, but there are many factors,鈥� he told 快猫短视频.
Chris Foss, of the industry publication Jane鈥檚 Defence Weekly, also questions the viability of such a defence. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to need smoke that covers a large area very quickly,鈥� he says. 鈥淎lso, what happens to your own people on the ground?鈥�
A more feasible system might be to shoot down incoming aircraft using missile defence systems installed at nuclear plants, says Foss, as is being considered in the US. But this would require a huge investment of manpower, he says.
Fall out
The German proposals are a response to a report commissioned by the country鈥檚 environment ministry shortly after the terrorist attacks in the US on 11 September 2001. That concluded Germany鈥檚 power stations are inadequately protected against attack from the air.
The report revealed that even a small jet liner could cause enough damage to Germany鈥檚 older plants to result in a disastrous dispersal of radioactive material. Newer plants could be similarly damaged by a large passenger jet, it concluded.
The ministry spokeswoman told 快猫短视频 that a decision on which defensive measures will be implemented is expected within months.
Using smoke to mask a target is routinely used in military conflicts. For example, in 2003 the Iraqi army set alight reservoirs of oil in an attempt to hide targets inside Baghdad from US and allied bombers. However, this proved ineffective against missiles using global positioning system (GPS) satellites to navigate.