[mikegi]

All there is on Drudge so far. Yikes! Real HEU would make a nasty dirty bomb.

[cinFLA]

All there is on Drudge so far. Yikes! Real HEU would make a nasty dirty bomb.

No. HEU is NOT very radioactive. For the dirty bomb, you need the highly radioactive nuclides out of a reactor.

[TheDon]

Great! Visions of NY Harbor going up in an atomic holocaust. It looks like the Soviets old nukes are the least of our problems. They left nuclear material all over the place unaccounted for.

[CurlyDave]

Did anyone else notice two things:

1. 37 lbs = 1/3 of 110 lbs. If a shipment were divided into three equal parts, this would leave two of those parts missing right now. Is 74 lbs enough to do anything?

2. Detonating bomb over Manhattan is definitely more efficient. Now couple this with the stories of Al Queda having fully qualified airline pilots and you have the next generation suicide bomber.

BTW, this has an interesting wrinkle. If the gun fires, but for some reason the bomb does not fission, fly the aircraft to some foreign location and recover the HEU.

It may be possible to design a bomb which would not destroy the aircraft if it fizzled. May not even be possible to tell anything happened from the ground.

[rushfreedom]

Dejavo - I heard this before. See the AP report below. Dated 09/29/2002

This my friends, is why we attacked Iraq. ========================================================= Turkey Seizes Weapons-Grade Uranium Captured weapons-grade uranium is displayed at the paramilitary police headquarters in Sanliurfa, southeastern Turkey, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2002. Turkish paramilitary police have seized 15.7 kilograms (34.54 pounds) of uranium and arrested two Turks who they said planned to sell the weapons-grade substance, the Anatolia news agency reported. Sanliurfa, some 800 kilometers (480 miles) from the capital Ankara, is close to the Syrian border. (AP Photo/Ercan Akkar/Anatolia)

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) _ Paramilitary police have seized about 35 pounds of uranium and arrested two Turks who they said planned to sell the weapons-grade substance, the Anatolia news agency reported Saturday.)

Police, acting on a tip, stopped a taxi on a highway near the southeastern city of Sanliurfa, Anatolia said. They found the uranium in a secret compartment under one of the car seats.)

Police in Sanliurfa confirmed the arrests but refused to give further information.)

Anatolia said the uranium was enriched for use in weapons. Police believe it was smuggled from an eastern European country.)

The agency did not say when the arrests were made. Sanliurfa, some 480 miles from Ankara, is close to the Syrian border.)

Copyright 2002, AP News All Rights Reserved

[nuconvert]

pong

[xm177e2]

Every time a story like this is reported, the amount of Uranium actually involved drops precipitously a few hours later, when further reports overtake the initial ones.

[Eva]

Has Drudge reported that Hillary's book made the top ten worst books of year on the USA Today's list?

[Central Scrutiniser]

Howard Dean: "The Seizure of 37 lbs of highly enriched uranium that could be used in a devastating bomb that could kill many thousands, does not make America safer..."

God, I hope he is the Dem nominee...

[ChadGore]

37-Pounds ?!?! That's a LOT!!

[Paul C. Jesup]

Someone is finally doing their job.

[RIGHT IN LAS VEGAS]

Always, screen trash from across the borders! Especially the ones from the un-profiled centuries past!

up-yours muslamie faggot!

SCREW MECCA.....

MECCA =S@#T

:) RILV

[AdmSmith]

No, this an inflated report. This operation was just rutine and this is not weapon grade, just 36 percent enriched, so it can not be used in a bomb without further enrichment.

Furthermore, it is less than the critical mass required, i.e. not sufficient for a terrorist group to manufacture a bomb.

[risk]

We did wish each other a Merry Christmas, Mr. Russian Conservative. And I think Saint Nicholas delivered us both a Christmas present of superb anti-terrorist cooperation between Russia and the USA. It sounds like a public relations stunt to announce it in such dramatic terms, but it's better to amplify this kind of drama than face the results of failing to acquire support for continuing such efforts.

The uranium was flown aboard a Russian AN-12 cargo plane to Dimitrovgrad, in the Volga region of Ulyanovsk about 520 miles southeast of Moscow. A facility there, which is undergoing comprehensive upgrades due to be finished in the next couple of months, will blend down the uranium until it can no longer be used in a nuclear weapon, officials said. At that point, it could be sold for use in commercial nuclear power plants, officials said.

--WP article

In any case, let's hope for a very happy new year to all peoples of both of our countries, and may they each have long and free -- and healthy lives.

[mvpel]

Dirty bomb? Highly-enriched uranium is what they used in the Little Boy nuclear bomb that devastated Hiroshima.

[Righty1]

That is enough to make a real bomb.