A million Americans could die in wide scale bioattacks using various strains of smallpox, anthrax, Ebola and other bacteria, said a new study analyzing the impact of such weapons of mass destruction.


Though such scenarios are thought highly unlikely, a team of scholars from the liberal Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C., has urged the Bush administration to at least consider such a mass-casualty incident and begin formulating plans for it, the Washington Post reported Monday.

Such attacks would not only cause the largest loss of life but also the most economic and psychological damage, the study found.

It estimated that 100,000 people would die if a nuclear bomb hit a major U.S. city and that 10,000 would perish in a successful attack on a nuclear or toxic chemical plant. And, if weapons of mass destruction were directed against the shipping industry, the report said, the economy could suffer up to $1 trillion in losses, the study said.

The report is scheduled for release Tuesday. It is being billed as one of the most comprehensive such studies since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The authors – most of whom specialize in foreign and economic policy – say they hope their study will help Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge better plan where to place the nation's resources as he develops response plans to terrorist incidents.

"There are an unlimited number of potential vulnerabilities," said one of the report's authors, Michael E. O'Hanlon. "We're going to have to spend some time prioritizing and organizing our thinking. We really should be focusing on potentially catastrophic attacks, meaning large numbers of casualties or large damage to the economy."

The study also said the government should invest heavily in technology to identify and apprehend suspected terrorists before they can strike