[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?

[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.