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" What about 'dirty bombs?' They're a lot closer."
That my friend is a different story. They could have dirty bombs as we write. Where a dirty bomb conotates any device that holds radioactive istopes of a given type, that are placed into some container (shielded to avoid dectection), and connected with enough explosives, a detonator and timer to blow the stuff into a given area.
Anyone with a slight amount of skill can make a dirty bomb. So many commercially available timers are avaiable along with many forms of detonation very easy to construct.
The only catch really is finding enough radioactive isotopes of choice.
However. If we start to talk about dirty bombs capable of spreading radioactive isotopes over a large area, then of course one must start to improve on their design.
Lets use an example both of us can easily relate to.
You can have images of IED's blowing up lets say a 7 ton convoy truck.
Now if you place a container with the radio isotopes into the shell, lets say it was a 155m artillery shell. You would not expect to spread the bad stuff much more then a few hundred radial yards. And that would assume things like wind, surrounding buildings, and other obsticles that may prevent the main blast radius from reaching it's normal size. So again. it is not like someone can plant a dirty bomb in a large city and expect to do anything other then perhaps poisoning the poor people within a few hundred yards of such a single shell IED described above.
I'll let you judge if what I say is reasonable or not.
To create a huge explosion that could spread large amounts of radiactive material over a wide area in typical populations centers we see in the USA and Europe for instance would require one hell of a large bomb blast.
And I think you would agree, say trying to move a 2000lb iron bomb for instance around a neighorhood is not exactly so easy to do. If you put such a thing in say a large trailer rig, then the bomb blast right off the bat is diminished as it goes off. How one where to designed the required containers that contain the radio isotopes, you would need one heck of a lot of that stuff, very hard to get in such huge quantities from stolen sources say universities, various commercial labs, hostpitals, dumps etc..
So I am not trying to say we have not real concerns with any ot these things. All I am saying is it is not that easy to build such devices that will effect a large number of people with one blast. It is not like you could kill all the people in say a city of 100,000, which is comprised of mostly modern buildings.
One thing I did not point out about the goons getting from this first step of being able to actually extract some tiny amount of enriched uranium. Everyone is saying they managed to extract a tiny quantity capable of being used in some type nuclear reactors.
About 3.5% of an undisclosed amount. But at best a very small amount blam. I would without hesitation say less then a pea.
Atomic fission requires at least 90% enriched uranium isotope U-235.
Once they get say 3000 centifuge units actually operating in the required manner, effeciently, not breaking down, not fulling out of synchronization with the others within each serial/parallel stage (say six units long connected to another set of six units long etc.), group after group being assembled in a very very huge building or number of buildings.
They will then be at the point where they can start to manufacture higher enriched uranium for nuclear use, once they learn how to build the proper type fuel rods. That's another story in itself. You just don't pack uranium into tubes. It gets very involved. And they must manufacture to russian specs. a particular type fuel rod to use in a given reactore.
Any way. Once they get to that point. Then they are perhaps still many years away from creating the proper type centifugal configurations (we are talking about perhaps 50,000 or more cascaded centifuges) of course with a lot of sophisticated piping/control baffling hardware along with the computerization process to control the monster, to arrive aat a point where one can make any significant amount of fission grade uranium available.
If you are with me so far. If you believe what I am communicating, and I am not making this stuff up, what would I gain from being a lier. The one can start thinking a little different then the pack.
The USA and all concern are putting pressures on them for a number of reasons. All good reasons. But to think GWB for instance for a moment thinks the madman is going to have a bomb in six months is a little far fetched.
I hope you grasp what I have shared. I probably won't go through this again on the many free for all postings on this subject. People are going nuts without, at least attempting to learn even a little as to what is involved.