Kansas has 70 percent chance of major bio-weapon disaster in next 50 years IF

[Bad Boy Dazza]

A rendering of the U.S. National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility planned for Manhattan, Kansas. In a report issued yesterday, the National Research Council said a government safety evaluation for the proposed facility contained “several major shortcomings”.

There are “several major shortcomings” in a department risk assessment of its planned National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility near Manhattan, Kansas, according to a report by the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences. The proposed site is roughly 120 miles west of Kansas City.

The council calculated that based on estimates in the DHS assessment, which wrapped up in June, that there is a nearly 70 percent chance a disease would escape the laboratory during its planned 50-year operational lifespan. The DHS report estimated the economic losses from a postulated foot-and-mouth disease outbreak at $9 billion to $50 billion.

However, yesterday’s 146-page NRC analysis states that the actual amount could be “significantly higher” because the department’s assessment did not consider the dangers associated with daily upkeep of large animal holding rooms.

http://coto2.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/dhs-70-chance-disease-will-escape-proposed-bioweapons-lab-in-tornado-alley/

[_aj_]

I was trained as a NBC first-responder and I never understood why we lumped them all together as equally bad. Give me the nuke or the VX any day compared to something like weaponozed smallpox. Bio-weapons are true doomsday devices and anybody that does anything with them is tempting the gods.

There was a small story a few years ago about how a bunch of grad students were getting gene sequencers off eBay and splicing monkeypox (genetically similar to smallpox) with a more hearty virus to increase its transmission. Sheer madness. Why we do the things that we do...

[Tapeworm]

My biggest fear as far as weapons go.  I just know there are jars out there somewhere with shit that would wipe us off the planet before anyone could figure out how to stop it.  Nature has provided some pretty nasty ones but an engineered bug?  Forget about it.

On the other hand, if you don't do cutting edge shit, have your experts, etc, there may be no help if something does get released elsewhere one day.

[Nomad]

My biggest fear as far as weapons go.  I just know there are jars out there somewhere with shit that would wipe us off the planet before anyone could figure out how to stop it.  Nature has provided some pretty nasty ones but an engineered bug?  Forget about it.

On the other hand, if you don't do cutting edge shit, have your experts, etc, there may be no help if something does get released elsewhere one day.

I'm sure the slavs will survive. They seem to survive everything.

[Mr Nobody]

A B-52 will take charge.

[Powerlift66]

My 1st concert in 1981 was Molly Hatchet and Kansas...

[Obvious Gimmick]

No getbiggers in Kansas anyway

[arce1988]

[Parker]

I'm sure roaches will survive. They seem to survive everything.

fixed.