Joint Publication Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Consequence Management

Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclearconsequence management (CBRN CM) can bedescribed as the overarching United StatesGovernment (USG) capability and the strategicnational direction, to prepare for, respond to, andrecover from the effects of a chemical, biological,radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) incident athome or abroad, and whether or not it is attributedto an attack using weapons of mass destruction(WMD). When required, the USG will coordinateits response to a CBRN incident in one of threeways based on the geopolitical situation. TheDepartment of Homeland Security (DHS) is theUSG lead agency for incident management thatwould include a domestic CBRN incident.Overseas, excluding homeland areas, theDepartment of State (DOS) is the USG lead forwhat is termed foreign consequence management(FCM).