|
From Sandy Perle's news alert:
11/2/01
I just can't help myself...........
In an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of
an IAEA conference on nuclear
terrorism, Andrew said terrorists could take radiotherapy or X-ray materials from hospitals to construct a crude bomb. >Evidently the writer is
not at all familiar with the size and construction of such sources. Moving
and getting the RAM out of such sources should be some easy to detect.
Also, I think such a device if removed from a US Hospital would be missed real
soon. Now, density gauges are another animal. They are being lost
all the time. But pose little risk of being made into a bomb without some
one getting zapped or contaminated.
While such a weapon might not wreak devastation, it would certainly spread panic. >any exploding device will cause panic.
No one will be aware that there is RAM involved until the news services spread
the word.
"On the consequence side, you're not going to get a large number of fatalities. >Can't imagine any fatalities other than the people working on the
project. If the material was dispersed to any extent, the resulting
doses would not approach LD50.
The consequence is going to be more one of
economic disruption and anxiety in the
public." >Just how many devices are
they talking about. Is there a storage yard filled with Co-60 and Cs-137
sources that is easily accessed. Hell if there is, just removed the
shielding and leave it unguarded, but properly posted.
Often referred to as a "dirty bomb," such a device could easily be built by surrounding a radioactive source with explosives and detonating it to spread radioactivity across a wide area. > again they are not in touch
with the physical universe. A small capsule surrounded by explosives would
be ejected intact. Yes it may crack. Really you should surround the
explosives with RAM and then detonated it (terrorists please don't believe
this). Strange that when detonated, explosive force is outward (path of
least resistance), unless something is place on the explosive to direct it some
other way.
"In science there is only physics; everything else
is stamp
collecting."
--Ernest Rutherford |