What substances would be the most lethal/disruptive in an attack on an enemy city?

If a terrorist group or nation state wanted to use a dangerous substance against a major city that would be both extremely lethal and disruptive (besides nuclear weapons), what would they use?

Let's say they can only use it on a single square mile so it has to spread on its own after the initial use.

I'm thinking the best choices would be anthrax, nerve gas or some radioactive substance that remains dangerous for decades/centuries.
 
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If a terrorist group or nation state wanted to use a dangerous substance against a major city that would be both extremely lethal and disruptive (besides nuclear weapons), what would they use?

Let's say they can only use it on a single city block so it has to spread on its own after the initial use.

I'm thinking the best choices would be anthrax, nerve gas or some radioactive substance that remains dangerous for decades/centuries.

Feels a little like a mass death scenario but as far as my two cents go.

Radioactive and chemical could kill a lot of people but they're rather limited and noticeable.

A biological weapon that was quietly released and had a decent incubation period before symptoms if released near an airport could cause an unfathomable level of death and destruction, I wouldn't know what disease but the ability for it to be initially undetected and to spread past 'ground zero' seem to make it the best choice.
 
Biological weapons, of course. Chemicals and radiations don't duplicate themselves.
That said, I'd check the issue of a mass death scenario. They're kept on a short leash here.
 

PlasmaTorch

Banned
If a terrorist group or nation state wanted to use a dangerous substance against a major city that would be both extremely lethal and disruptive (besides nuclear weapons), what would they use?

Let's say they can only use it on a single square mile so it has to spread on its own after the initial use.

I'm thinking the best choices would be anthrax, nerve gas or some radioactive substance that remains dangerous for decades/centuries.

They would probably use something like the M55 rocket with a VX warhead. That is an insanely lethal gas that is also highly persistent.
 

nbcman

Donor
If you want to deny an area, salt the area with Cobalt-60 which would make the area uninhabitable for decades. But to have a spread of a threat from an area, a biological agent would be best. Chemical agents can be diluted and will weather away so they are a poor choice.
 
I'd suggest a combination: first, a relatively low-level radiation agent to debilitate but not kill the populace; second, a particularly nasty fungus (thinking Cryptococcus neoformans).
 

SsgtC

Banned
I'd put my money on Sarin or VX. VX is a persistent nerve, and will be a bitch to decontaminate and will deny access to the area. Sarin is non-persistent and, while resulting in mass causalities, will generally evaporate at the same rate as water and can be cleaned up (realativly speaking) quickly and easily. Which one you use depends on what you're trying to accomplish
 
I'd suggest a combination: first, a relatively low-level radiation agent to debilitate but not kill the populace; second, a particularly nasty fungus (thinking Cryptococcus neoformans).

On a single city block that's never going to be as deadly and disruptive as many B agents that were weaponized in the 1960s. The radiations will affect only a small number of citizens, living there or passing through; the cryptococcus will almost only affect those, and others who may have a weakened immune system because of other reasons.

An effective B agent, OTOH, will affect that same population and then spread to people who come into contact with that initial population. I could name names but we're already probably drawing way too much attention as it is.

It's like an area bombing attack with HE ordnance only, or with incendiaries too. The fire caused by the latter spreads beyond the initial target area.
 
There's something a little bit weird about a thread basically asking how you can kill as many people as possible.
 
The question is do you want to kill a bunch of folks or have them be scared of anything that goes bump in the night? Use car bomb/baby buggy/ trashcan bombs, alternate with using some kind of powder that will hurt people bad, then rig up harmless imitations that look like the original substance. People looking over their shoulder at even the neighbors is going to disrupt everything, especially if 911 starts to get overloaded with both fake and real calls.
 
You could probably be far more disruptive without being lethal or even directly injured.
I would suggest graphite.

Very fine conductive particles that will get into anything and everything electronic and damage it, most of the time, beyond repair. No mass death, but effective.
 
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