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THINK HIROSHIMA
New York Post ^ | 12/05/01

Posted on 12/05/2001 12:02:09 AM PST by kattracks

Edited on 05/26/2004 5:02:42 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

December 5, 2001 -- Osama bin Laden may be on the verge of scoring a radiological "dirty bomb," the Washington Post reported yesterday. That development needs to be taken very seriously indeed.

A dirty bomb is not - repeat, not - a nuke. But it could be the next worse thing.


(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events
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1 posted on 12/05/2001 12:02:09 AM PST by kattracks
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To: kattracks
It comprises a powerful conventional-explosive charge jacketed by highly radioactive material - the point perhaps being to render a large chunk of Manhattan uninhabitable.

You could easily do that with a few kilos of the anthrax sent to Daschle. Which do you think is the more likely threat?

2 posted on 12/05/2001 12:05:34 AM PST by Clinton's a rapist
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To: Clinton's a rapist
You could easily do that with a few kilos of the anthrax sent to Daschle. Which do you think is the more likely threat?

I'm a radiologist involved in disaster planning for my local hospitals. I recently spoke to an FBI agent specializing in weapons of mass destruction. They are worried sick about the "dirty bomb." He thinks this is much more likely than a smallpox epidemic or true nuclear detonation.

Have you heard of the Goiania incident? About 100 grams of cesium-137, an amount you could hold in the palm of one hand, were accidentally released from a medical device in a Brazilian scrapyard in 1987. This resulted in 4 deaths and 30 people hospitalized with acute radiation sickness. Many city blocks were contaminated and 70 homes were torn down.

The Chechens allied with Bin Laden are known to have more than 150 pounds of cesium-137. It is commonly found in hospitals and nuclear waste depots all over the world.

Sweet dreams...

-ccm

3 posted on 12/05/2001 12:48:29 AM PST by ccmay
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To: kattracks
If Israel had obeyed G-d at that time todays problem with Islam would not exist. The moon godlet could not have been invented by a people who no longer existed.
4 posted on 12/05/2001 1:12:43 AM PST by hsszionist
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To: hsszionist
Goes back to Abraham. Had he obeyed God, then the problems of today would at least be different. In each case, however, a lack of obedience sows the sins of the future.
5 posted on 12/05/2001 1:31:02 AM PST by beekeeper
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To: ccmay
Is potassium iodide taken to counter radioactive cesium?
6 posted on 12/05/2001 1:37:24 AM PST by dennisw
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To: ccmay
From: http://www.nbc-med.org/SiteContent/MedRef/OnlineRef/CaseStudies/csgoiania.html

Case Study: Accidental Leakage of Cesium-137 in Goiania, Brazil, in 1987

In September of 1987, scavengers dismantled a metal canister from a radiotherapy machine at an abandoned Cancer Clinic in Goiania, Brazil. Five days later a junkyard worker pried open the lead canister to reveal a pretty blue, glowing dust: radioactive cesium-137. In the following days, scores of Goianian citizens were exposed to the radioactive substance. In a nuclear disaster second only to Chernobyl, the city of Goiania had one of the largest radioactive leaks on its hands and for a few days, they knew nothing about it.

History

In the early 1980's, "three doctors had owned the private downtown [Cancer] clinic...when they left [in 1985], the doctors simply abandoned the radiotherapy machine and left the building to deteriorate without windows or doors."i Two years later, the canister containing cesium-137 was found by scavengers. Accounts differ as to who found the canister and how it was opened. However, once the canister was pried open releasing its radioactive contents, tragedy ensued.

Radiation Contamination Facts

Radiation destroys the most rapidly dividing cells of the body the cells of the skin, hair, gastrointestinal tract, and bone marrow. Because the bone marrow gives rise to the blood cells, including those of the immune system and the platelets that staunch bleeding, radiation victims are susceptible to infections and hemorrhaging.

Cesium Facts

Naturally occurring cesium is entirely the nonradioactive isotope, cesium-133 Cesium-137 is useful in medical and industrial radiology because of its long half-life of 30 years...

When cesium comes into contact with plants and animals, it is absorbed into system by replacing potassium.

Goiania Facts

Goiania, city, capital of Goias estado (state), south-central Brazil. (1980) 702,858.

Case

Sometime around September 21, 1987, a lead canister containing 1400 curies of cesium-137 was opened launching the second largest nuclear accident after Chernobyl. The cesium from within the canister was a "luminous blue powder" which both children and adults rubbed on their bodies. Six year old Leide das Neves Ferreira "rubbed the powder on her body so that she glowed and sparkled." She later ate a sandwich tainted with cesium powder from her hands; "she reportedly received five to six times the lethal dose [of radiation] for adults." The cesium was later parceled out to friends and family, spreading the contamination from the junkyard to homes around the city, although mainly contained within a localized area. The radioactive substance continued to contaminate the population for a week before Devair Ferreira finally reported to health authorities.

On September 28, "Devair Ferreira went to the Goiania public clinic where a health care worker correctly diagnosed radiation illness and alerted authorities."ii When the Brazilian Nuclear Energy Commission dispatched a team equipped to handle a radiation accident they found:

244 persons to be contaminated, 54 seriously enough to be hospitalized for further tests or treatment. Thirty-four were treated and released. The next day the ten sickest patients...were airlifted to the Navy hospital, Dias, in Rio.

Upon realizing the severity of the accident, the Brazilian government requested help from the International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) which sent a team of doctors.

The medical team found the 20 most seriously irradiated victims had received doses ranging from 100 to 800 rads... Nineteen of the 20 had radiation-induced skin burns, from minor to major. And all 20 patients were internally contaminated, which meant that they were being continually irradiated from the cesium that they had inhaled or accidentally ingested. The patients themselves were radioactive.

Because the patients themselves were radioactive:

...the first task was to attempt to rid their bodies of cesium. For this, they administered Prussian blue, an iron compound that bonds with cesium, aiding its excretion. The problem in this case was the substantial delay-at least a week-from initial exposure to treatment. By that time much of the cesium had moved from the bloodstream into the tissues, where it is far more difficult to remove...the patients were also treated with antibiotics as needed to combat infections and with cell infusions to prevent bleeding.

Between six and eight (according to different accounts) of the most adversely affected patients were treated with an experimental drug called "GM-CSF, or granulocyte-macrophange colony-stimulating factor...one of at least five hormones that boot the production of white blood cells in the [bone] marrow."iv While a debate sprang around the experimental treatment used:

...the doctors injected GM-CSF into each patients vena cava, the central vein that leads to the heart. Within 48 to 72 hours, the white blood cell count increased in five of the six patients...within a week, four of the six patients had dies, overwhelmed by pneumonia, blood poisoning and hemorrhaging.

Six year old, Leide Ferreira was among the four who did not make it.

As the rest of the city was being decontaminated "technicians ...checked more than 34,000 people with Geiger counters at the city's soccer stadium."i However, the National Commission on Nuclear Energy had:

...underestimated the severity of the problem. At least 42 of its technicians did not wear protective overalls, hoods, gloves or boots while carrying out decontamination. And no one remembered for several days to decontaminate the ambulances used to take victims from Rio de Janeiro's Santos Dumont airport to the city's naval hospital- one of only two facilities for treating radiation sickness.

Decontamination efforts were lackadaisical at times, despite the use helicopters equipped with radiation detectors to identify hot spots and the decontamination of items such as furniture and money.ii The accident contaminated homes, businesses and soil. What could not be decontaminated was collected or dismantled and placed in concrete lined drums for disposal as nuclear waste.

Conclusion

It is clear that the city of Goiania and the country of Brazil were ill-prepared for medical treatment of a nuclear disaster, as are many nations. The lack of regulation surrounding the use of nuclear materials in Brazil, by both national and international regulation committees, as well as the abandonment of the radiotherapy machine was an accident waiting to happen. The best protection one can have against a large-scale nuclear disaster happening is two-fold: better regulation and better preparation. The lack of adequate response time and materials greatly contributed to the number of casualties and fatalities. Although it took a few days to report the radioactive leakage, the cause is also twofold. Primarily, the canister should never have been left behind. Secondly, the general public had no idea that they were handling a radioactive substance. The lack of regulation of nuclear substances, whether for medical purposes or electricity, remains a major factor in the possibility of future nuclear accidents.

The city of Goiania now makes money off of its tourism business and it will be many years before the effects of the nuclear disaster of 1987 will be fully realized. The "incubation" period for increases in radiation fallout related Leukemia increases is 9-10 years. It is only in 1996, that we are seeing a significant enough rise in Leukemia cases in areas surrounding Chernobyl, that doctors are considering the possibility of a correlation between the nuclear accident and the rise in leukemia rates.

Although the Goiania accident happened barely a year after the Chernobyl accident, the people of Goiania were able to benefit from decontamination and medical treatment efforts used there. Studies and the monitoring of Chernobyl victims continues to provide the most indepth information on the long-term effects of radiation exposure.

7 posted on 12/05/2001 1:59:04 AM PST by Sceaming_Gerbil
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To: Sceaming_Gerbil
Keep handy, and pass these on:

Nuclear, Biological, & Chemical Warfare- Survival Skills, Pt. II

8 posted on 12/05/2001 2:00:41 AM PST by backhoe
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To: ccmay
The dirty bomb dosen't worry me as much as what the reaction would be.

We could deal effectively with the contamination, I fear the panic.

9 posted on 12/05/2001 2:22:45 AM PST by NY.SS-Bar9
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To: ccmay
"I'm a radiologist involved in disaster planning for my local hospitals. I recently spoke to an FBI agent specializing in weapons of mass destruction. They are worried sick about the "dirty bomb." He thinks this is much more likely than a smallpox epidemic or true nuclear detonation."

And also WAY less likekly to do significant damage than either said epidemic or nuclear detonation. Sure, it will contaminate a small area pretty badly, and scare the **** out of a lot of people, but the conventional explosive simply cannot spread the rad-waste broadly enough to cause major loss of life.

10 posted on 12/05/2001 2:43:51 AM PST by Wonder Warthog
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To: kattracks
I wonder if Bin Laden realized what the response to the WTC would be as it has been? Or if Bin Laden thought the US would respond as it did with the attack on the Cole?
11 posted on 12/05/2001 2:47:18 AM PST by Zipporah
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To: dennisw
"Is potassium iodide taken to counter radioactive cesium?"

No--potassium iodide ONLY protects against radioactive iodine--no other isotope. The mechanism of protection is that the non-radioactive iodine prevents the radioactive iodine from being grabbed by the thyroid gland and turned into iodine containing biochemicals.

If you are worried about other isotopes, buy a Geiger counter and a good (HEPA) air filtering unit.

12 posted on 12/05/2001 2:49:10 AM PST by Wonder Warthog
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To: Zipporah
I don't believe bin Laden expected us to react the way we did. Why should he? He has been getting away with his terrorism for the last 8 years. The media has been telling the world how divided this country is and that President Bush was not considered the "legitimate" choice of many. The Democrats have made it a point to make life difficult for Bush since he's been in office. bin Laden took all of this to mean that we would once again just roll over, as usual. Maybe lob a few missiles at Afghanistan, like clinton did, and that would be the end of it.

Apparently, he didn't take into account the fact that we now have a man in the WH, not a stupid, self centered fool, and that this country would unite when faced with something as horrendous as 9/11.

Surprise!

13 posted on 12/05/2001 2:58:05 AM PST by kattracks
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To: kattracks
Good point about the perspection of division. It would be interesting to know if they thought the US would respond as it has for the last 8 years... bet he is very surprised.
14 posted on 12/05/2001 3:04:49 AM PST by Zipporah
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To: kattracks
Let's make this the shortest fundraiser ever.
5 days into the fundraiser and we are 62% there.
We can be finished in 3 more days
and get back to our regular freeping.
If you can, come on and contribute
to the best web site on the internet.
Or stop by and help bump the thread!


Freepathon Holidays are Here Again: Let's Really Light Our Tree This Year - Thread 6


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15 posted on 12/05/2001 5:10:09 AM PST by WIMom
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To: kattracks
bump
16 posted on 12/05/2001 8:00:56 AM PST by Libertarianize the GOP
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To: Zipporah

Once we kill all of our enemies, we will grind their bones up and add them to our asphalt. We will then pave our roads with their remains.


17 posted on 12/05/2001 8:01:46 AM PST by vannrox
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To: All
Forgive me for interrupting your very important thoughts and profound wisdom, but we are in the midst of the most exciting fundraiser ever on FreeRepublic. I would hate for any of you to miss it!

Come visit us at Freepathon Holidays are Here Again: Let's Really Light Our Tree This Year - Thread 6

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18 posted on 12/05/2001 8:52:35 AM PST by 2ndMostConservativeBrdMember
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To: Sceaming_Gerbil; Alamo-Girl
Thanks for the fascinating detailed article you shared at POST#7.
19 posted on 12/05/2001 10:56:47 AM PST by meridia
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To: kattracks
Washington needs to let the world - terror-sponsoring nations in particular - know that if a dirty bomb is ever detonated on U.S. territory, or on that of its true allies, America will respond as Rome did to Carthage.

I keep seeing variations of this argument, but why would a Mohammed Atta type particulary care what we do to Baghdad in reprisal? These terrorists only seem concerned with securing their own reward in the afterlife, and it seems to me that a true believer would think that Allah would not allow the faithful to be destroyed by the United States, anyway.

A variation on the MAD doctrine might keep certain governments in line, but would have no effect on a group like Al Qaeda. If they have any nuclear or radiological capability, they will use it. That they haven't already done so is a pretty good sign that Ashcroft rounded up the right people.

20 posted on 12/05/2001 11:03:36 AM PST by Mr. Jeeves
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