[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.

[oceanview]

there are only detectors at fixed border crossings: roads, bridges, etc. crossing from canada into the US by boat across the lakes would not trip any of those. it would have to be picked up by satellite. i can't imagine that placing it in a lined container would be that hard.

[rs79bm]

You're probably right. I would like to think we have satellites tracking radioactive material, but I can't verify this. If we don't, I suggest NASA develop one. But then again, it would have a hard time passing Senate as Dems would attempt to block funding.