Drudge: WashPost to report US/Russian Team Seize 37-lbs of Highly Enriched Uranium ...

Drudge Report of WashPost ^ | Dec 23, 2003 | Drudge

[Southack]

"With 110 pounds of HEU, it'd be trivial."

Only in the movies. Working with such brittle, dangerous metals as Uranium is anything but trivial, as are creating the proper nuclear "trigger" and core shape, all of which are affected greatly by the decay of the different elements and their introduction (through decay) of impurities into the whole process.

Likewise, the electronics and conventional explosives used to start the detonation are all impacted negatively by the emitted radiation of the fissionable material, among other such problems.

Consider that NAZI Germany couldn't figure out how to overcome these hurdles during WW2, though not for lack of trying. Neither could Soviet Russia or the UK at that time, either. Then consider that most of the Middle East considers WW2-era V-2 (ooops, SCUD) missiles to be state of the art.

So there is considerably more to building an actual nuclear bomb than meets the eye, though a dirty bomb *is* a trivial task.

[NeoCaveman]

Damn.

John F Kerry

[ConservativeMan55]

No...John F. Kerry says F***, and Wes Clark says s***, and Hillary days Jew B****

[Prime Choice]

You've got Freepmail.

[AdamSelene235]

Likewise, the electronics and conventional explosives used to start the detonation are all impacted negatively by the emitted radiation of the fissionable material, among other such problems.

Electronics? A neutron trigger would be nice to enhance yield but it isn't necessary. You could make a flintlock U-235 gun sans electronics if you liked.

Consider that NAZI Germany couldn't figure out how to overcome these hurdles during WW2, though not for lack of trying. Neither could Soviet Russia or the UK at that time, either.

Consider that the Little Boy design was Never Even Tested. They knew it would go from first principles. The stumbling blocks for the Nazis and Soviets were the refinement of uranium and the complexity of detonating plutonium (which is much easier to produce). Once you have refined shaped uranium, you are well on your way to a usable device.

The Pakistanis acquired nukes with Saudi money. Pakistan doesn't exactly have its sh*t together.

[GOPJ]

I'm impressed and that's one great story. Thanks for sharing.

[Prime Choice]

With 110 pounds of HEU, it'd be trivial

Only in the movies. Working with such brittle, dangerous metals as Uranium is anything but trivial

Not to belabor my point, but al Qaeda operatives are not exactly concerned about personal safety. And yes, a 110 pound HEU bomb is pretty trivial since that's all that's required for supercritical mass. The high tech solutions requiring neutron exciters come in when you're dealing with Uranium-235 quantities in less than natural critical mass.

Likewise, the electronics and conventional explosives used to start the detonation are all impacted negatively by the emitted radiation of the fissionable material, among other such problems.

These are all part and parcel of safety considerations with which al Qaeda operatives do not even bother concerning themselves. Moreover, lead is not hard to come by and has been previously used for radioactive shielding in such weaponry.

Consider that NAZI Germany couldn't figure out how to overcome these hurdles during WW2, though not for lack of trying.

Nazi Germany failed in its pursuit of the atomic bomb because their scientists started out by trying to prove a Jew (Einstein) was wrong. The Nazi ideology doomed their work from the start.

Neither could Soviet Russia or the UK at that time, either.

Soviet Russia was less than 5 years away from their own A-bomb when the Rosenbergs forked over our secrets to them. The main thing holding them back was that they lacked the core research infrastructure we had cultivated over the entirety of the Manhattan Project.

[Kozak]

"Now for the 12 kiloton question...how many former Soviet, ethically challenged bomb designers are there who might be tired of making $50 a week working in a vodka factory?"

And how many Pakistani, Jihadist, terrorist allied nuclear bomb technicians are there who would do it for free?

[Travis McGee]

Pro Ping.

[Southack]

"Electronics? A neutron trigger would be nice to enhance yield but it isn't necessary. You could make a flintlock U-235 gun sans electronics if you liked."

It would fizzle 999 times out of 1000.

[Prime Choice]

Haven't lost sight of it...but I do have a keen eye on their tactics and strategies. Their methods of attack are exceedingly low-tech. That raises their chances for "success" (in their twisted minds).

Take some time to review their previous attacks (whether committed or aborted). You'll find none of them are of the scale or sophistication feared in this discussion.

In order to defeat al Qaeda, we must frame our scenarios in the same limited fashion they do. And as I've pointed out before, none of it is more technologically sophisticated than what we had in the 1930s.

[John H K]

Maybe this was destined for some other wannabe? Iran?

The article is up on the Washington Post. Drudge's headline was misleading, this wasn't a "seizure" of uranium en-route somewhere for some nefarious purpose.

It was uranium SITTING in an old Soviet-built reactor. We and the Russians came by and picked it up with the full cooperation of the Bulgarians. Something we've done before and not quite the shocking big deal this thread has made it out to be.

[Southack]

"Soviet Russia was less than 5 years away from their own A-bomb..."

The world's terrorists are further away than that still to this day, and my simple point was only that the issues involved were non-trivial, anyway.

[Travis McGee]

Given 110 pounds of HEU, I'd bet on western-trained engineers working for AQ to be able to at least duplicate a Hiroshima-type gun barrel device. It ain't rocket science. So what if they "only" get a 1% yield? That would still be about 10KT, or enough to flatten Manhattan.

[AdamSelene235]

It would fizzle 999 times out of 1000.

Why do you think that?

Little Boy did not employ a neutron trigger. Probably had an neutron source in the center of one of the slugs but not a timed trigger. You call 10-20 ktons a fizzle? I don't.

[Southack]

Only in the movies. Working with such brittle, dangerous metals as Uranium is anything but trivial

"Not to belabor my point, but al Qaeda operatives are not exactly concerned about personal safety. And yes, a 110 pound HEU bomb is pretty trivial since that's all that's required for supercritical mass."

There is more to it than mere personal safety. The precise shape of the core is rather important, and working with the brittle, dangerous metals that are used for nukes is anything but trivial. Get the shape a little bit wrong and you are going to get a fizzle rather than a BOOM.

[Prime Choice]

The world's terrorists are further away than that still to this day, and my simple point was only that the issues involved were non-trivial, anyway.

I stand by my claim that, with 110 pounds of HEU, the successful construction and detonation of an atomic bomb is trivial.

The only non-trivial part these days is getting one's mitts on the requisite quantity of Uranium-235. Everything else can be accomplished in one's garage.

[Kozak]

I get about 53 cubic inches.
A bowling ball is about 220 cubic inches.

[Orangedog]

I wish they'd just build back the Twin Towers the way they were on September 10th, only one story higher (just to p~ss off the terrorists).

Absolutely! They could even use a conventional interior structure, just as long as the outside was identical to the Twin Towers. The only other change I would make would be anti-aircraft defences on the roof or each building.

[Prime Choice]

The precise shape of the core is rather important, and working with the brittle, dangerous metals that are used for nukes is anything but trivial.

Making the core is straightforward using Uranium suspended in hexaflouride with an electrically-charged collector.

The bullet counterpart to complement the concave sphere is cast in the same die as was used for the collector. Perfect fit. Put 'em together. Supercritical mass...and one really bad day.