Nuclear Threat within US Possible (My Title)

FoxNews | October 30, 2001

[PrivacyChampion]

FOX NEWS just reporting that there is a potential risk of a nuclear terrorist attack against the US, maybe within the Continental borders with a 'dirty nuke' that has been smuggled across the Mexican border.

This is the threat that AG Ashcroft warned about yesterday.

[Robert357]

Ok, I'll add my 2 cents to this tread. Once upon a time, I use to design and license nuclear power plants. I have done the calculations that determine the number of people killed or injured following an unbelievable theoretical nuclear accident. In Graduate School while getting my Masters Degree in Nuclear Engineering, I also had the opportunity to witness the decontamination of a laboratory that was accidently contaminated by some nuclear material when some equipment broke. At that time we all looked up the LD 50-30's on various radionuclides. (Sorry, that is Leathal Dose for 50% of the exposed population within 30 days of exposure)

The type of bomb these folks are talking about is what that uses convensional explosives to spread radioactive material over a large area. In my opinion the impact would be mostly monetary. It would be very expensive to clean up after. Based on what I know, I doubt that anyone would be killed by the radiation. Anyone exposed could be easily decontaminated quickly and with the extensive use of radiation treatment in cancer, we have come a long way in taking care of people who have had significant exposure to radiation. The biggest problem would be associated with people ingesting food contaminated with radioactive material, but I think we are smart enough to keep that to a minimum.

Nuclear bombs are a lot less radioactive fallout killers, than generally thought, it there are other sources of clean food and water and there are decontaminated places one can go to. In a nuclear war, those options don't usually exist. With a small bomb spreading radioactive material they do exist.

Now as to the decontamination of the laboratory. We had to package up just about everything and throw it away. It was not cost effective to try to clean it. It was packaged and then shipped off to a nuclear reservation where it was burried with other low-level nuclear waste. That, getting rid of just about everything and having to deal with huge volumes of radioactive wastewater used for decontamination of buildings and streets, would cost a bundle and be the chief difficulty.

Such a bomb would be a lot like the anthrax scare we now have. Huge cost and disruptive impact, but very few if any deaths. Lots of people contaminated and treated by the medical system, but again few deaths.

The nice thing about such a dirty bomb, would be that if one had a radiation detection device, at major ports of entry, it would be difficult to sneak into the US.

So to the FBI monitoring this, get some gamma and neutron monitoring devices at major points of entry and a few extra for use in roving stops of big trucks, vans, etc. Also mobilize some of the Army and National Guard folks who are trained in Decontamination. Better yet, talk to some of the folks in the national labs, Oak Ridge, Hanford, etc.

[Nowhere Man]

I've heared them called "R-Bombs" for "radiation bombs" where they are supposed to send radioactive stuff around a general area via explosives. To me, a "dirty nuke" is meant to create a lot of fallout that has a long half-life to deny access to an area or to make cleanup very tedious to say the least. At least that's my take.

[nimc]

Thanks for the great news link! Now a can reduce my 40+ links to about 5!

[BluH2o]

Is this the same type of device found on a terrorist in Israel recently?

Israel is a small country ... this type of weapon could contaminate countries that border Israel ... also Palestinians within the country. Not to mention the Israeli response which would certainly cause a certain city in Iraq to glow in the dark.

[ladyjane]

And the stock market is down more. There's a lot of communication between Wall Street and DC. The market started down yesterday before the press conference and the big guys have already bailed out.

[blam]

"I've been told fairly often that I don't have one of those pesky things...I lost mine years ago."

Slip18 speaks highly of you....and I think she is correct.

[oyez]

They all fail. It is the faulty logic behind them. Its totaly amazing. As they never work, more crapy ideas are pressed into service. They are all slaves to Peter Pan logic.

[PrivacyChampion]

the is a post on it also: SQUAW PEAK

[Joe Hadenuf]

Yes, and sadly, protecting our borders is one of the actual responsibilities of our federal government. It is more than a disgrace that this critical responsibility has been abdicated to focus on programs for which there is absolutely no mandate.

Worth repeating for the folks that will eventually wake up.

[NautiNurse]

http://www.unitedstates.com/news/farticle/623135?20011029223847

The URL surely raised my eyebrow.

[Heisenburger]

Perhaps we should consider a pre-emptive strike.

[Hammerhead]

what really sucks is that we live and work in DC. If those bastards ever did this, the US should tell the Norhern Alliance to clear out and just start nuking all of the front lines of the Taliban and all those gd mountain hide outs. AND just start using tactical nukes on every terrorist play ground.

[MizSterious]

Articles reporting such things have a tendency to disappear off of Free Republic. Either someone manages to get it pulled under the "loose lips" theory (not always, but often, this is specious, because the items are already being reported on local & national news), or they flame until the moderators yank it out of frustration (easier than deleting dozens of flame posts).

[ohioman]

"If they had it, they would already have used it. They aren't just going to sit on it and risk being discovered and caught. - Richard W."

Stating that must make you feel better. But put yourself in Bin Laden's position. Would you use your best weapons at the start of the war. I know if it was me, I would be saving the best for last. From what I have read, that is what many in our military believe.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Sadly, since I think the goal of all this nonsense is to bring capitalism to its knees and have it degenerate into mass hysteria, a "dirty nuke" in the right place would go a long way towards achieving that end.

[1Old Pro]

If the enemy uses nukes on us, are we still prevented from retaliating with nukes? Sheesh, the rules of PC wars have me perplexed.

[Fred25]

ARIZONA NEWSPAPER

IMMIGRATION STORY

[culpeper]

Would this surprise me? With the ex-Soviet republics in disarray for the past ten years, Russian mafia etc...Would it really be that difficult for tangos to get some sort of radioactive material? We are not even talking about weapons grade here just something to make a dirty nuke. Something like only 6% of shipping containers are even searched so its possible to ship something anywhere. Remember last week in Italy they caught an Arab with fake pilot credentials living in a mini apartment set up in a container en route to Canada? These people do not fear reprisals so they will try anything.

[Alkhin]

Any such strike on an American city and we bounce the rubble in Baghdad.

Forget Baghdad (well, nuke it too, but...)...Nuke Mecca. The sole purpose of the Muslims gaining Jerusalem is so they can wipe out history and replace it with one of their stupid mosques. Mecca needs to be annihilated.