Terrorists haven't detonated a radioactive bomb on American soil. But it's not for lack of trying, say federal authorities who report thwarting such attacks. What if Portland was the target of a "dirty bomb"? That's the premise of an hour-long program called "Dirty Bomb Attack" premiering Thursday on the National Geographic Channel.

"Dirty Bomb Attack" dramatizes how the city would respond if a dirty bomb blew up in the heart of the Old Port shopping district. The program features actual employees at Maine Medical Center, where patients in the film are taken after the explosion, as well as Portland firefighters and paramedics.

In this scene, firefighters survey the blast site, as injured people lay on the ground moaning, covered in blood and radioactive dust.
"Some work to remove victims. Another checks for potential radiation with a count rate meter," a narrator intones.

The program was conceived and directed by Lisa Wolfinger of the Lone Wolf Documentary Group in South Portland. Wolfinger also wrote the script, with input from the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies concerned with dirty bombs.

"I think since 9/11 it's been on certainly Homeland Security's mind," Wolfinger says. "And just because it hasn't happened doesn't mean that they've stopped thinking about it. I think part of the problem for them is that's it's very easy to make."

A dirty bomb is a conventional explosive device laced with radioactive material. Because its contents are meant to be dispersed over a large area, the radiation is far less likely to kill someone than the blast itself, scientists say.

Rather, the power of a dirty bomb comes from creating fear and panic. "As they say, a dirty bomb is weapon of mass disruption, not destruction," Wolfinger says.

The plan had been to set the attack in Washington, D.C., or Boston. But Wolfinger was able to sell the network on Portland, where local officials were eager to participate.

Over at the Portland Fire Department, Deputy Fire Chief Terry Walsh says the production presented a counter-terrorism drill unlike anything the city could put on itself. With a budget of roughly $280,000, producers hired extras, built sets and recreated a bomb blast, complete with fire and debris.

"What the filmmakers were able to bring was just a much higher level of expertise when it comes to having victims there, make-up, the real dose of reality -- you can't compare it to what we typically do here," Walsh says.

More than 20 firefighters participated in the filming. No one minded the multiple takes, Walsh says. "You know, obviously because they were making a movie, gave us an opportunity to work on certain skills over and over and over, to really fine-tune some of the skills we already had but hadn't really tested to that extent."

On film, the firefighters set up a "decontamination tent" downwind of the blast for people to remove their clothing and wash off the radioactive particles. Firefighters are also shown carefully cutting the clothing off of an injured man so as to not contaminate the ambulance.

Once at Maine Med, the man is wheeled to the trauma unit. Doctors see that a fragment of the debris, possibly part of the bomb, is stuck in the man's arm. "They carefully remove the fragment and seal it in a lead-lined container," the film's narrator says.

"We haven't used the dirty bomb scenario before and it's pretty unique, so this was a great opportunity," says Josh Frances, Maine Medical Center's Director of Emergency Preparedness, as well as an EMT. He says the hospital has run through other scenarios such as a chemical spill and power outage.

But a dirty bomb would be more complicated, Frances says. The hospital must make sure it has antidotes are on hand for people sickened by radiation, and can deal with a surge of patients in the emergency room scared about radiation exposure, even though it would be neglible compared to that of a nuclear explosion. "It's an unknown, it's very scary, people think about diving under their desks and covering their heads," Frances says.

Wolfinger knows her program paints a grim picture of a dirty bomb's impact. But she says, if anything, residents should rest assured that authorities are ready to deal with the situation. "There are a lot of folks who are thinking about it and are trying to prepare for it so that should it happen, first responders know what they're doing and will work quickly and minimize the damage."

The program, part of the Naked Science series on the National Geographic Channel, airs on Thursday at 10 p.m. For more information on the program and on dirty bombs, log onto mpbn.net.