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To: GonzoGOP
And the trigger is the hardest part of the bomb to build. Again you might be able to build one or two at a university without everyone knowing. But 160, no freaking way.

The idea of "dirty bomb" comes to mind - it doesn't have to be Nagasaki to be a mess...

89 posted on 03/30/2011 7:35:04 AM PDT by wizzardude
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To: wizzardude
The idea of "dirty bomb" comes to mind - it doesn't have to be Nagasaki to be a mess

Absolutely. In WWII the Germans were working on a bomb at the same time we were. Fortunately for us the scientists who did a lot of the theoretical work on the pit (highly enriched core that allows for supercriticality) were Jewish and had to emigrate to the US. So they couldn't design a bomb that would go BANG successfully. However they came up with a design using alternating plates of Uranium and heavy diesel oil (an excellent neutron absorber). The plates were held apart by relatively weak bolts. When the bomb was dropped the bolts would break, the diesel fuel would be pushed out and the Uranium plates would slam together. It wouldn't be a Hiroshima style bang, but what you would have was a portable Chernobyl.

Of course you need a lot more material for a bomb of that type, we are talking close to a ton of enriched Uranium just be sure it worked. And there is no way the mad mullahs are going to get their hands on 160 tons of enriched uranium without anyone catching winds of it.

I guess I'm just biased by the old theory that anything known by more than three people will not stay a secret for long. You can put together one dirty bomb, or buy a single nuke from the Russians or North Koreans with a fairly small team. But getting your hands on enough material to make 160 dirty bombs is going to require a lot of people in a lot of countries. With a conspiracy that big news will inevitably get out.

And if it is just for propaganda, then they should claim that they had two bombs, and lets slip some believable details about where they got them from. The art of terror is based on making believable threats. If I threaten to kill you with an army of sharks with laser cannons on their heads you are going to laugh yourself into a fit. Even if I have the army of highly armed aquatic deep sea predators as advertised. But if i threaten to have a hired killer slit your throat in the parking lot it is a much more believable threat. And you will be looking over your shoulder on the way to the car, even if I don't hire the assassin.
100 posted on 03/30/2011 7:59:49 AM PDT by GonzoGOP (There are millions of paranoid people in the world and they are all out to get me.)
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