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

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

[mikegi]

US/Russian Team Seize 37-Pounds Highly Enriched Uranium from Bulgarian Plant, WASH POST Planning To Report On Weds... Developing...

[Tax Government]

How many solar masses would that be?

[No Blue States]

Thanks for the detailed opinion. So the common terrorist is too low tech to build a real nuke, without outside help. (that we pray they cant get) But would they pursue the highly enriched stuff for a dirty bomb? Or is there something that would work as well that is easier to get?

Maybe this was destined for some other wannabe? Iran?

[jwalsh07]

Re: 51 You removed a graphic that is devoid of technical specifications and common knowledge to anybody that has a want or a need to know.

[jwalsh07]

There are Soviet scientists available by the busload who can build a serviceable nuke with the amount of U-235 we're talking about here. And they are for sale.

[Orangedog]

What the other person failed to note is that a 12.5 kilton bomb could not "level Manhattan" unless it was detonated above Manhattan.

Did anyone ever find that passenger jet that was stolen about a year ago? I think it could get far enough above Manhattan, or any other city, to maximize the effect.

[TBall]

I'm just happy to see the US and Russia working together.

[Orangedog]

Don't forget deuterium...

Blabbermouth!

[Prime Choice]

Thanks for the detailed opinion. So the common terrorist is too low tech to build a real nuke, without outside help.

Actually, they can build a real nuke...but not with 37 pounds of HEU.

What truly bothers me is this: what if that 37 pounds is not the whole of the shipment, but only part? It would make sense not to ship the entire 110 pounds necessary for critical mass in one shipment. When HEU is gathered in quantities at or above 110 pounds, it doesn't require a detonator...it can go off by itself (hence the term "critical mass").

But would they pursue the highly enriched stuff for a dirty bomb? Or is there something that would work as well that is easier to get?

Yes. Radiologic medical waste...but that too is highly controlled and supervised from cradle-to-grave.

All told, radioactive materials are difficult to come by. For every Uranium bomb there is, 25,000 tons of Uranium ore had to be mined. From that, only 50 tons of Uranium can be claimed...and most of that (over 99%) is U-238, which is non-fissionable. That's why the typical fission bomb of today uses Plutonium instead. Much less costly.

Maybe this was destined for some other wannabe? Iran?

Iran has its own breeder reactors now. They wouldn't need to import HEU when they can bake their own made-to-order Plutonium at their leisure.

[Prime Choice]

Don't forget deuterium...

Blabbermouth!

Sorry...a failing of mine. My interest in nuclear and thermonuclear weapons goes back a ways... : )

[11B3]

Ammonia is merely an inhalation hazard - not exactly toxic until high concentrations are reached. Hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen cyanide, or a large number of other gasses are much more deadly.

An LPG tanker ship would be one hell of a bang.

[Orangedog]

Here's where the fun starts: Today's terrorists don't have the capability of putting a nuke together themselves with 37 pounds of material. But there are people out there that can. 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?

[evad]

Drudge: WashPost to report US/Russian Team ...

What kind of team?

Where are the US and Russians working together as a team?

[Orangedog]

Ammonia is merely an inhalation hazard...

But imagine the mischief one could have with all that ammonia and a tanker of iodine crystals. ;)

[evad]

I'm just happy to see the US and Russia working together.

MEE TOO.

Must be some kind of KGB/CIA thingee.

[RightWhale]

that is enough

Right. And part of NJ and CT would be seriously damaged. Bulgaria, though? Thought they were friends.

[Prime Choice]

Ammonia is merely an inhalation hazard - not exactly toxic until high concentrations are reached.

Which explains why so many radial miles are evacuated following rail-line disasters in which ammonia cars have a risk of cracking open.

Hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen cyanide, or a large number of other gasses are much more deadly.

Those agents are more tightly controlled than ammonia, thus making them a less-than-favorable choice in the eyes of al Qaeda architects.

As history has demonstrated time and again, terrorists do not go normally for the "most deadly" agents in their attacks. They are not looking for optimal death yields; they are looking for optimal terror in the survivors (since the dead no longer have anyhing to fear). Thus, they prefer a good number of those attacked live in a maimed capacity (whether physically and/or psychologically).

In the mind of the terrorist, high body counts are desirable only if the survivors are frightened enough that they will pressure their governments to cave in to the demands of the terrorists.

An LPG tanker ship would be one hell of a bang.

Big bangs are low on terrorist priority lists. Human psychological impact is a much higher priority. Note that the 9/11 attacks were not powerful enough to destroy the Pentagon (at all) or the WTC (initially). Indeed, the WTC destruction only succeeded because the twin towers' tube design left all the load-bearing on the fatally-compromised outer shell. Had the buildings been standard design, it probably wouldn't have collapsed as soon.

[No Blue States]

"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?"

That question nearly makes a spiderhole seem like a comfortable and safe habitat.

[Azzurri]

Didn't I read somewhere that Bulgaria was 11% Muslim? I wonder if they had anything to do with it. </sarcasm>