180 pounds of nuclear material missing in Canada

WABC | November 7, 2003 | John Loftus

[Allan]

John Loftus now on Batchelor Alexander WABC reports: A student of Nuclear Engineering at McMaster University Hamilton, Ontario. has disappeared along with 180 pounds of nuclear waste stolen from the university's nuclear reactor. This happened several months ago but an alert has been ordered tonight in the USA and Canada. His name is ? Adnan al-ShoukriJumai, 27 years old, a Saudi national. A search is underway. The fear is that they may hijack a cargo plane in Canada. I hope to provide further details later on this thread.

[Beck_isright]

I got Ottawa in post#64.

[hispanarepublicana]

I'll settle for the Red River

My dad's only dying request was that I not marry anyone from north of the Red River.

PS: my own advice is that you should never eat Mexican food north of the Red River (unless it's an absolute emergency).

[rs79bm]

It's pretty hard to carry 180lbs of stuff in a briefcase.

That's a good point. But what about in small bricks? It's my understanding these things are not all bundled up into 180 pounds. But then again, you still would need something to create the explosion, which would have to be rather large, and identifiable. Either way I don't think their plan would succeed. Remember, this is an organization that is desperate. I mean, really desperate. But then again, they are the master of covert operations and have already done it once. I wouldn't want to think of the ramifications if they succeeded again. Although I find that rather unlikely. BTW, have you heard from Osama lately?

[jimbo123]

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/Primetime/iraq_terrorthreats030320.html

Sources described El Shukrijumah as an al Qaeda field commander who trained under alleged terror financier Ramzi Binalshibh. They told ABCNEWS that the 27-year-old lived for years in Florida, and was identified by captured al Qaeda attack planner Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Binalshibh and Mohammed are both in U.S. custody in undisclosed locations.

Mohammed also said that El Shukrijumah had been sent to the United States to carry out an operation, probably via Canada, sources said. He also may be linked to a so-called dirty bomb plot in which American Jose Padilla has been accused, they said.

The FBI said El Shukrijumah's whereabouts are unknown, but it is believed that he was in the United States shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. The bureau is trying to trace his movements since then. At one point, he lived in South Florida near some of the 9/11 hijackers, officials believe.

"El Shukrijumah is possibly involved with al Qaeda terrorist activities and, if true, poses a serious threat to U.S. citizens and interests worldwide," the FBI said in its alert.

El Shukrijumah was born in Saudi Arabia and is thought to be a terror operative on the level of Atta, the lead hijacker in the Sept. 11 attacks, sources said. One source described him as a "real bad guy."

He is described as 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-5, 132 pounds, with a Mediterranean complexion, black hair and black eyes. He occasionally wears a beard.

He does not have a pilot's license registered with the Federal Aviation Administration, but that does not mean he is not a trained pilot. He is believed to have trained at a flight school in Florida. Many of the Sept. 11 hijackers also got flight training in the state.

El Shukrijumah planned to return to South Florida in late 2001, but when the FBI interviewed his father at his home in Miramar, Fla., after Sept. 11, 2001, his mother warned him to remain outside the United States, saying she feared he would be arrested if he came back to the country, according to the FBI alert.

[oceanview]

i have my doubts that there are any "Jack Bauer" types left in the CIA to pursue things like this.

[Cicero]

I think I'll suspend judgment on this one.

For one thing, nuclear waste could very definitely be used in a dirty bomb. Can you imagine what a fuss the yuppies would make if nuclear radiation were scattered all over New York or LA?

For another, I'm not entirely reassured by this statement from McMaster's University: "The University has no record of this individual ever attending school here or accessing the reactor," said Mamdouh Shoukri, McMaster's vice-president research.

Mamdouh Shoukri?

[GeronL]

I'm not planning to go north of the Red River, not even for the new Casino. Although I did spend a couple of weeks in Fletcher Okla when I was younger.

[Beck_isright]

One quick observation so you'll sleep good tonight...

If dope peddlers can sneak 20,000 lbs of coke or grass into the U.S. almost daily, what makes you think smuggling 180 lbs of anything would be hard?

Sleep tight.

[Calpernia]

That was funny Poohbah!

[Cboldt]

Story is apparently COMPLETELY bogus.

Then, from the article you cite ...

"Faculty and staff have been conducting extensive inventory checks to ensure no nuclear or radioactive materials are missing from the facilities. So far, the checks have shown no equipment is unaccounted for."

The assertion appears to be that no EQUIPMENT is missing. That assertion is not responsive to an inquiry as to whether all radioactive material is accounted for.

[oceanview]

well, that's where I would start. grab his parents, do what is necessary to them (i'm dead serious), and see where it goes from there.

[hispanarepublicana]

Although I did spend a couple of weeks in Fletcher Okla when I was younger.

Maybe your workplace has an "Employee Assistance" program...

[Poohbah]

If dope peddlers can sneak 20,000 lbs of coke or grass into the U.S. almost daily, what makes you think smuggling 180 lbs of anything would be hard?

180 pounds of "anything" wouldn't be hard at all.

180 pounds of radioactive stuff: given how lax AQ can be about safety (witness the phenomenon of premature jihadulation), the smuggler is probably glowing in the dark just south of the US-Canadian border.

[jimbo123]

DDid Al-Qaeda Seek "Dirty Bomb" Materials in Canada?

Adnan el Shukrijumah (better known as "Jafar the Pilot") was in Canada last year, according to an FBI informant, and was posing as a student at Mc Master University in Ontario, which has a 5 megawatt nuclear research reactor.

He is said to have been part of an al-Qaeda cell, which operated in Canada and the United States, and which was planning an attack using "dirty bombs".

The informant says at least three other cell members were seen in Ontario last year: Anas al-Liby (who is sought by the FBI), Jaber A. Elbaneh, and Amer el-Maati.

The plan was to buy or steal radioactive materials from people who had access to research reactors, or to radioactive waste. The material would be packed around an explosive charge, and ,on detonation, could contaminate a fairly large area with low-level radiation: more of a psychological danger than a physical one.

It should be pointed out al-Qaeda planners have, in the past, come up with numerous "alarming" schemes, of which very few have been practical or effective.

Source: Washington Times, October 17, 2003.

[GeronL]

Maybe I should be embarrassed, but I have actually zero idea what that may be a reference to.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Well, airplanes have been hijacked before.

When a truck carrying contaminated rebar drove into LAMPF (the driver was lost), the radioactivity detectors went off and a picture taken. Not much radioactivity but rebar shouldn't have any. The driver was identified and reached by phone at a Santa Fé truckstop. Investigation found that the rebar was contaminated in Mexico by cobalt from a dithermy machine that was stolen by someone here in the US and sold to Mexico for scrap (the thief didn't remove the cobalt.) The Mexican NRC equivalent traced this stuff to Juarez where some people had died of radiation sickness. A junkyard was decontaminated. Big story at the time.

The point is that there are radiation detectors all around for various reasons. Anyone carrying 180lbs of nuclear waste would show up pretty quick.

If the story is true, the thief should be pretty sick now and a search of hospitals should be useful.

Still seems to be a hoax. The lack of source for the story is a hint.

[HiTech RedNeck]

I think the only thing impeding the jihadis is that they still have a collective geopolitical conquest vision and have been well taught (Afghanistan and Iraq) that Uncle Sam will stomp it flat if they get too aggressive. Heaven help us if they lose even that and descend into literal pure hatred.

[Wampus SC]

"I got Ottawa in post#64. "

OK. Is Halifax taken yet?

[rs79bm]

I didn't say it couldn't be done. I was referring to an earlier post in which the question was asked as to what the makeup of the 180 pounds would be. I simply stated that in all likelyhood it would be in small fragments, not one large chunk. Nonetheless, the &*^&%^%%*&*& are desperate, and will try anything. But don't be fooled, we've overcome things in the past, and we'll overcome them again.

[eldoradude]

"The University has no record of this individual ever attending school here or accessing the reactor," said Mamdouh Shoukri, McMaster's vice-president research, in a statement early Friday morning. "We have total confidence in the safety and security of the reactor. There is no indication whatsoever to substantiate the information in the story."

I wouldn't want to flame you, I hit the link to check it out, hoping this was more paranoia, but the word of someone called 'Mamdouh Shoukri' doesn't reassure me very much.