>Dirty bombs are a big deal, but they dont hold a candle to a real nuke.<
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True. But if they can smuggle in a dirty bomb, they can do the same with a real nuke. Are dirty bombs perhaps a dry run for the real McCoy?
Where is Jack Bauer when we need him?
It is easier to smuggle in a real nuke, not as much as a rad signature.
> Are dirty bombs perhaps a dry run for the real McCoy?
Because the fissile material in the “real McCoy” needs to be replenished at certain intervals, and because that requires skill and techology beyond the reach of terrorists, even a “real McCoy” becomes just a dirty bomb after a period of time.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very nasty weapon all the same, but with about four to six orders of magnitide less blast and heat than a freshly fueled nuke.
That’s why Amahdi-jihad in Iran is working so hard to set up his own nuke technology.
Possible. The smuggling would definitely be the easy part - getting a real nuke is much more difficult. We hope.