CNN-> Osama bin Laden's "Dirty Bomb"

[Chuck Cooper <cooperc@teleport.com>]

Device called a crude nuclear weapon designed to terrify

December 4, 2001

Posted: 1:25 PM EST (1825 GMT)



WASHINGTON (CNN) -- At a meeting of senior al Qaeda leaders in

Afghanistan within the last year, a member of the terrorist network

displayed

a cylinder and said it contained radiological material that could be

used in a

so-called "dirty bomb," according to U.S. officials.



A "dirty bomb" is a conventional explosive laced

with radioactive materials designed more to terrify

people than to kill large numbers, experts said.



The al Qaeda member said "that's what it was, but

we have no way of knowing whether there really

was anything in that cylinder," a U.S. official said.



The incident -- monitored by U.S. intelligence -- is an

additional sign, U.S. officials said, of the high interest

Osama bin Laden's group has had in obtaining

materials for a nuclear weapon, or at least for a

crude radiological device.



In recent weeks, intelligence officials -- as well as

CNN and other news organizations -- have found

piles of materials in former al Qaeda safe houses in

the Afghan capital, Kabul, indicating the group was

trying to learn how to make a nuclear weapon.



One hand-drawn diagram found in a Taliban or al

Qaeda facility showed a design for a "dirty bomb,"

according to U.S. officials. The bomb would be made

by taking highly radioactive materials such as spent

nuclear fuel rods or Cesium 137 -- used for medical

purposes around the world -- and wrapping them around

conventional high explosives.



Such a crude device could easily be made by terrorists if they had

enough

radiological materials, experts said. Concerning nuclear weapons

themselves, the

documents found in Kabul are "relatively primitive," according to a U.S.

official.



"They indicate a high level of interest but do not by themselves prove a

high level of

knowledge," the official said.



The Washington Post reported Tuesday that increased evidence showing al

Qaeda

may have tried to obtain materials for a radiological weapon contributed

to the Bush

administration's decision Monday to warn Americans of the risk of a new

terrorist

attack.



But Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge denied al Qaeda's efforts

prompted the

alert. "We have to be prepared for all eventualities, but that report

that you relate to

in The Washington Post has absolutely nothing to do with our going on

alert again,"

he told CNN.



Nuclear weapons experts said while a "dirty bomb" would likely terrify

the public, it

would not kill many more people than a conventional explosion -- if any

-- and thus

might not be the weapon of choice for terrorists.



"This would be a major psychological problem in a public way, but as a

threat -- it's

not going to kill a lot of people by and large," said Roger Hagengruber

of Sandia

National Laboratories, which do a large amount of research and

development related

to U.S. national security.



Even the long-term threat to those nearby would not be dramatic,

according to

David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security.

He said that

"even if it's a fairly significant radiological attack, it's not like 20

years from now

we're going to see this huge spike in deaths from cancer."









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