As Dr. Rozental has pointed out: (1) the people in Goiania did not die right way. (2) Terrorist are willing to die for their cause. You may not, but they are.
"Flood, John" <FloodJR@nv.doe.gov> wrote:
However, there is another aspect to the suicide bomber scenario. Suicide attacks involve the attacker either dying in his own explosion or in returned fire. Either way, the attacker's death is immediate - no lingering, no suffering.
But a dirty bomb requires a large source that has to be acquired, then transported to the place where it will be made into a bomb. Then there's the bomb fabrication process, loading the bomb into the delivery vehicle and transport to the destination. As this process evolves, a single case of acute radiation sickness is likely to derail the whole thing. Suicide bombers who see that radiation sickness is a relatively lengthy, truly ugly way to die will likely have second thoughts - cooperation will become a problem, etc. Trying to manage radiation exposure involving such a large source so that none of this happens begins to confound the necessary efforts to do all this inconspicuously.