[ RadSafe ] How tough is it to build a dirty bomb?

[Dixon, John E. (CDC/ONDIEH/NCEH)]

The special forces unit personnel in that movie were shot, not irradiated.

John Dixon

----- Original Message -----
From: dckosloff at firstenergycorp.com [mailto:dckosloff at firstenergycorp.com]
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 11:25 AM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] How tough is it to build a dirty bomb?

Dr. Cohen,

Have you ever seen the movie "Broken Arrow" with John Travolta?  In the 
move, an entire Army Special Forces squad dies shortly after they get 
about five feet from a fully intact nuclear bomb that they were on the 
ground  looking for.  On the other hand, I was a trained and qualified 
nuclear weapons officer on a navy vessel and slept on a weapon with a 
plutonium warhead.  Of course, the only dose I ever received was from 
spending time in the reactor compartment.  But nobody ever made a movie 
about me.

Thanks,
Don 



From:   "Bernard L. Cohen" <blc at pitt.edu>
To:     "The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing 
List" <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
Date:   02/11/2011 11:19 AM
Subject:        Re: [ RadSafe ] How tough is it to build a dirty bomb?
Sent by:        radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu



On 2/10/2011 4:53 PM, Franz Schönhofer wrote:
>   Since the aim of such an "attack" would be to raise fear and
> chaos the amount and the concentration of such radioactive substances is
> hardly of any importance. Headlines in the mass media like "Plutonium 
bomb
> spreads deadly radioactive material in downtown...." would be enough to
> create chaos - whether it were a mBq or some GBq.
>
         This could only work once, because when the public recognizes 
that no one was harmed by the plutonium, it would be a very useful 
public information event

-- 
Bernard L. Cohen
Physics Dept., University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Tel: (412)624-9245  Fax: (412)624-9163
e-mail: blc at pitt.edu  web site: http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/~blc

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