Nuclear Proliferation - HP related

[Franz Schoenhofer <schoenho@via.at>]

I have tried to keep out of the discussion, because I know of my bad
reputation for a few RADSAFERs. Sorry, I cannot resist anymore.

Can anybody define proliferation? Is it stealing some pCi of 3% enriched
uranium-235, 95% enriched uranium, reactor plutonium, weapons grade
plutonium, Pu-238 in smoke detectors and trying to sell it to some fools?
Is it trying to sell natural uranium ore to similar fools? We had some
cases like this in Austria, the "vendors" were arrested and punished with
small charges because of fraud. It is nothing else but fraud. The
aforementioned materials are not suitable for constructing a nuclear bomb
and they do not pose hazards with respect to radiation, but if ingested
they are well known to act as dangerous chemical hazards. So this can
hardly be an issue for health physicists.

We know well from various stories, which come close to science fiction,
that terrorists can easily (!) steal burnt up nuclear fuel rods from
transports to burial grounds or reprocessing plants, take them home
(without being detected), separate the plutonium in their bathtube from the
rest of the radionuclides, do in the kitchen all the metallurgical
processes to form metallic plutonium, they buy the necessary explosives and
all the electronics needed in the supermarket around the corner, LiD or
whatever is needed for a hydrogen bomb is bought in the next pharmacy or
probably nowadays ordered via internet - and that's the nuclear bomb - no
problem. That the reactor grade plutonium will not work to produce a
nuclear chain reaction after all the efforts is another funny story, but it
can keep us smiling at this "science fiction" story and prevent us from
worrying about it. I do not think that it is the task of a health physicist
to protect the persons of this science fiction story from the radiation of
the "stolen" nuclear fuel rods.

If any state proliferates by selling bomb grade plutonium and the
technology of making nuclear bombs, then I do not think either that 
any health physicists can be involved, but it would be a question of
politics to prevent this. There are international treaties and it should be
known, that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has a large
division for Safeguards and that it simply is not possible to produce
enriched uranium and weapons grade plutonium which will be unaccounted for
and not be detected in countries which have signed this treaty. To me it
seems that the activities of the IAEA are very little known in the USA. 

I do not see any major risk in the attempts of some people to smuggle low
radioactivity material to other countries and these attempts should be
classified as fraud - which is actually the case. Furthergoing actions
cannot involve health physicists but only politics.

Health physicists should worry about lost Co-60, Cs-137 and other radiation
sources more than about hypothetical nuclear bombs "constructed" by
terrorists.

Franz


Franz Schoenhofer
Habicherg. 31/7
A-1160 Vienna
Austria
Tel.: +43-1-495 53 08
Fax.: same number
mobile phone: +43-664-338 0 333
e-mail: schoenho@via.at

Office:
Hofrat Dr. Franz Schönhofer
Federal Institute for Food Control and Research
Department of Radiochemistry
Kinderspitalg. 15
A-1095 Vienna
Austria
Tel.: +43-1-40 491 520
Fax.: +43-1-40 491 540
e-mail: schoenhofer@baluf.via.at
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