TERROR OF BIN LADEN'S 20 BACKPACK NUKES developing

Drudgereport.com ^ | drudge

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

PAPER: Osama bin Laden has bought nuclear firepower from renegade KGB agents, Tony Blair and George Bush have been warned... Developing...

[defenderSD]

lol......yes, I believe that is the exact model used by the Iraqis against Iran....has a yield of .0000000000000000001 kt.

[Sam Cree]

I don't know if Al Qaeda has WMD's or not, but I am pretty sure we cannot figure it out with logic and speculation only.

One thing I am sure of, though, is that as long as both WMD's and Islamic terrorists exist, the United States is at risk of being hit by them. As long as Islamic terrorists exist, Western Civilization is threatened.

My impression is that Bush thinks the same, along with Blair, and that their intention is to eradicate every one of these organizations, as the only means of preserving our safety and freedom.

[Southack]

"A myth has circulated for quite a while that all nukes must be relatively big and need frequent servicing. I wish it were so."

You poor thing. You must not have read the last paragraph of Post #97, or noticed that the half-life of the Beryllium trigger is only 53 days, but that sure didn't stop you from running off your mouth as though you knew what you were talking about.

[philman_36]

...that sure didn't stop you from running off your mouth as though you knew what you were talking about.
How do any of us know that you're not the one running off your mouth?

[philman_36]

And how do you know that the Russian BP nukes use a Beryllium trigger? Could you give some insight? Could the trigger be something else?
Your reply 97 concerns Little Boy. How does that make it relevant to BP nukes?
You just raise more questions in my mind.

[Southack]

All neutron initiator sources have a shelf-life, because all such radioactive sources decay.

Slower decaying substances (i.e. longer shelf-life) are available, but then they may not emit neutrons fast-enough to avoid a fizzle.

Believe it or not, TIMING is critical if you want anything more than a poisonous dirty bomb.

[philman_36]

None of that information answers what I asked.

[Southack]

Then perhaps you are asking the wrong questions.

There are two basic nuclear weapons designs, gun-type and implosion. Post #97 deals with both of them, and my previous post to you deals with "other" nuclear triggers.

[philman_36]

Some "trigger" info from J. R. Nyquist...consider his source.
The War on Terror Continues
According to Col. Stanislav Lunev, a military defector from the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff, it would be very difficult to smuggle a working nuclear weapon out of Russia. Not only are the trigger mechanisms for Russian backpack nukes stored separately from the nuclear fuel, but the triggers are heavily guarded by reliable security troops. These weapons also require sophisticated maintenance. Inputs of electrical power are required to keep sensitive micro-nuclear components in working order.

[philman_36]

And how do you know that the Russian BP nukes use a Beryllium trigger?
Do you know what kind of trigger they do use? You're using hypotheticals. Unless you know what the trigger is your hypothesus is guesswork.
What kind of trigger does the Russian BP nuke use? Don't guess, know, otherwise it's all speculation. If you don't know just say so.

[NormsRevenge]

Invitation to terrorism ... U.S. FAILS TO TAKE ACTION AS MOSCOW, BEHIND A VEIL OF SECRECY, STRUGGLES TO GUARD ITS SMALL, PORTABLE WARHEADS FROM THEFT

GUMO

[Southack]

Other things besides Beryllium could potentially be used as a trigger, but WHATEVER is used will have a shelf-life by definition (because to emit a neutron the substance has to decay).

[philman_36]

I'll take that as an "I don't know".

[EternalHope]

You poor thing. You must not have read the last paragraph of Post #97, or noticed that the half-life of the Beryllium trigger is only 53 days, but that sure didn't stop you from running off your mouth as though you knew what you were talking about.

I've worked with nukes, both on a combat crew in the Air Force, and as commander of the SACMET team in charge of setting maintance standards for ICBM's. I KNOW what I'm talking about.

You, on the other hand, are an idiot.

[Southack]

You are mistaken. Please see the last paragraph of Post #97.

If you need further explanations, just ask.

[Stefan Stackhouse]

If Osama Bin Laden had nuclear weapons he would have used them on 9/11, or in Afghanistan, or in Yemen or in Qatar, or Saudi Arabia. Instead we are to believe he has them but elected not to use them while the United States ousted the Taliban, bombed Al-Qaida back to the stone age, and continues to conduct a massive build-up in the Middle East to oust the goverments of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, etc? I don't thing so.

The error of your assumption is in assuming that they think like you do. They do not. You think that a massive hit with everything that they have is the only strategy that could possibly "work." You may very well be right. But they might be thinking that hitting us with one thing at a time, slowly building up the level of terror, and disabling one piece of our economy after the other, is the best way to go. They might think that such a strategy would be easier for them to pull off (which might be true), and they might think that such a strategy might result in our demise (which it would not). That it might not "work" is not the point -- the point is: do THEY believe that it might work. If they do, then that is what they will do, whether or not it makes sense to you and I.

[Stefan Stackhouse]

There is some evidence that the Soviets pre-placed these so-called suitcase nukes in various places in the US, many years ago. All the KGB guys have to do is sell the locations of the nukes. We may never catch them smuggling them in, because they are alredy here.

Some of us have been toying around for a while with the hypothesis that Western North Carolina was the hiding place, and "the search for Eric Rudolph" was a cover story for the Fed's attempt to find them.

[Stefan Stackhouse]

Other things besides Beryllium could potentially be used as a trigger, but WHATEVER is used will have a shelf-life by definition (because to emit a neutron the substance has to decay).

This is the bottom line. But I maintain that the danger exists that a device with a dead/missing trigger could be acquired from source A, a fresh trigger acquired from source B, and the two mated to create a live warhead. Improbable? Maybe. Impossible? I wouldn't bet on it.

[Southack]

The precise size, shape, and purity of the trigger matters. If the neutrons are emitted too fast or too slow for the particular warhead in question, then the bomb will fizzle instead of blow.

But not only is the math involved in getting the precise size and shape and purity critical, but replacing a trigger is a non-trivial activity, as is maintaining the electrical circuits.

Getting even the slightest detail "Wrong" could result in any number of different (and very unpleasant) side effects, from radiation poisoning to an instant self-detonation to an instant dirty bomb or even a dud.

It's no accident that only a very few NATIONS have managed to put together all the necessary pieces of this 60 year-old WW2 technology.

[Dec31,1999]

Our enemy is very resourceful. Before 9/11, who ever thought carefully timed, fully fueled passenger airliners would be used as cruise missles?

Not me! Keep up the fight!