History Forum / General / British History / June 2007

Loose Nukes Can Kill 'What, Me Worry?' Kooks...

Such As Pogue Gans.

DSH
----------------------------------------------------------------

How Bad Can a 'Dirty Bomb' Be?

Noah Shachtman  06.10.02
Wired

Science and military experts disagreed on Monday on the impact of a
radiological weapon, like the kind accused al-Qaida operative Abdullah al
Mujahir was allegedly plotting to explode.

Some see only a "minuscule" rise in cancer rates, while others predict that
huge sections of New York or Washington would become uninhabitable if such a
bomb were ever to go off.

All the experts stress that a "dirty bomb" is not the same as a nuclear
weapon, which generates intense heat and radiation from splitting atoms,
according to a statement from Rob Fanney and Jim Tinsley of defense watchdog
Jane's Information Group. A dirty bomb packs radioactive material inside or
around conventional explosives, which are then detonated to spread the
radioactive material.

The radiation wouldn't immediately kill, Naval War College professor William
Martel said. "But it'd create huge amounts of terror, havoc, and panic."

Especially for Gans -- even worse than his terror, havoc, panic and loose
feces on 9/11.  -- DSH

The most likely radioactive element in a dirty bomb is cesium-137, according
to Phil Anderson, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies. And the "consensus government view," according to a
March report in The Washington Post, is that al-Qaida "has probably
acquired" the isotope, which has a half-life of 30 years.

Cesium-137 is used to treat cancer and to maintain accurate atomic clocks.
And it's created as a byproduct of nuclear reaction -- the splitting of
uranium in a nuclear power plant, for example.

As cesium-137 "cools" from its radioactive to its normal state, the isotope
emits gamma radiation, waves of ultra-high electromagnetic energy. These
rays, while not as toxic as the heavier, alpha particle emitted by uranium,
travel further, and are extremely difficult to contain. Only concrete, steel
or lead can keep gamma radiation in check.

What's worse, cesium is the most "reactive" metal there is -- in nature,
cesium's always found combined with another element. So the isotope becomes
easily attached to roofing materials, concrete, and soil, said Fritz
Steinhausler, who led the International Atomic Energy Agency's environmental
assessment of the disaster at Chernobyl.

Once contaminated, it becomes nearly impossible to cleanse the radioactive
cesium off of these materials.

"The Russians tried to clean it up for years, and they eventually gave up.
It just wasn't economically viable," said Steinhausler, who's currently a
physics professor and visiting scholar at Stanford University's Center for
International Security and Cooperation.

"People had to give up their village or city.  Large areas became simply
empty," he added.  "It really destroys a society."

Hmmmmmm... "Give up their village..." As in GREENWICH VILLAGE, NEW YORK, or
HORSELL VILLAGE, SURREY, ENGLAND? -- DSH

In Goiania, Brazil, four people died and more than 34,000 people had to be
individually screened for contamination after a man in 1987 found an
abandoned medical device filled with cesium-137 in a junkyard.

And just consider how minor that case was as compared to a True Dirty Bomb,
with more Cesium-137. -- DSH

That's because cesium interacts disturbingly well with muscle tissue because
of its chemical similarity to potassium, which muscles need to flex.

Indeed. -- DSH

Fortunately, the body is used to processing these kind of chemicals, and
excretes half of the cesium it absorbs within 100 days. (In contrast,
radioactive strontium-90, similar to calcium, is absorbed into bone, and can
take 30 years for the body to get rid of half.) But the absorbed cesium
"would nevertheless cause a radiation dose, potentially increasing the risk
for cancer," Steinhausler said.

The risk is actually pretty minimal, replied Steve Koonin, a physics
professor at the California Institute of Technology.

"Long exposure to low-level gamma radiation, if you do the numbers, produces
a miniscule increase in cancer rates -- one extra cancer per 100,000
people," he said.

Members of the Federation of American Scientists paint a much darker
picture.

If a relatively tiny "dirty bomb" -- one containing only ten pounds of TNT
and pea-sized amount of cesium-137 -- were detonated in Washington,
federation scientists recently told Congress, "The initial passing of the
radioactive cloud would be relatively harmless, and no one would have to
evacuate immediately."

"However," the scientists continued, "residents of an area of about five
city blocks ... would have a one-in-a-thousand chance of getting cancer. A
swath about one mile long covering an area of forty city blocks would exceed
EPA contamination limits, with remaining residents having a one-in-ten
thousand chance of getting cancer.  If decontamination were not possible,
these areas would have to be abandoned for decades."

As in the FEDERAL TRIANGLE in Washington, D.C.?  Catastrophic! -- DSH

<http://www.washington-landmarks.com/federal.html>

"The Federal Triangle is an area just north of the National Mall that
stretches from the White House to the Capitol Building and contains a number
of key Federal office and Government buildings such as the FBI Building, the
National Archives, the Hoover Building and the Department of Justice."

"The Federal Triangle is adjacent to the downtown area and other popular
districts such as China Town.  As a result, there is an abundance of premier
shopping and fine dining close by."

And:

http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/Wash/dc42.htm

In February, a missing medical gauge containing exactly this amount of
cesium-137 was discovered in a North Carolina scrap yard. The Nuclear
Regulatory Commission said it receives nearly 300 reports of lost or stolen
radioactive materials every year.
--------------------------------------------------------

Just a PEA-SIZED bit of CESIUM-137...

Then consider COBALT-60...

And Americium-241 -- with a half-life of 432 years.

Also See:

<http://www.fas.org/faspir/2002/v55n2/dirtybomb.htm>

<http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/LooseNukes/story?id=1077341&page=1>

And:

<http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Apr/14/ln/ln24p.html>

Then there is the famous Doomsday Bomb, of _Dr. Strangelove_ fame:

<http://www.rense.com/general40/dooms.htm>

Cobalt-60 anyone?

DSH

Lux et Veritas et Libertas

Deus Vult

Dies Irae

Of course it's all very dreadful but the
mUSLIM maniacs might do better to manufacture
automobiles which together worldwide kill
over 1 million people per annum.  Of course
these machines maim and cripple many more.

The mUSLIMS of Afghanistan with their opium
production are destroying countless western
lives and families, far more than possible
with a dirty bomb.

O weep, weep, for the past Cold War of the
20th century when these and other maniacs
were sequestered behind iron & bamboo
curtains.

There he goes again!

Gans spouts, spews, spumes and sputters idiocy.

Islamofascist Jihadist Terrorist Suicide-Homicide Bombers would just LOVE to
set off a Bioweapon or a Dirty Bomb, say a Cesium-137 bomb, in the midst of
New York City -- panicking and killing all sorts of people -- with no regard
from which Nation they actually hail.

They would certainly kill lots of Americans and perhaps contaminate parts of
the city for years -- or even decades.

George Tenet, DCI/DCIA at the time, says this was one of his Major Worries,
right after 9/11.

The Panic alone would kill some people and lead many to soil their
underwear -- as Gans did on 9/11.

With proper placement -- Washington Square and other easy to determine
locations -- they could kill many of their arch enemies too -- the Jews.

This is no matter for the sloppy, lackadaisical, "What, me worry!" thinking
that Pogue Gans is so fond of inflicting on these audiences.

DSH

Lux et Veritas et Libertas

<baldersnip>

Loose Nukes Can Kill 'What, Me Worry?' Kooks...

Such As Pogue Gans.

DSH
----------------------------------------------------------------

How Bad Can a 'Dirty Bomb' Be?

Noah Shachtman  06.10.02
Wired

Science and military experts disagreed on Monday on the impact of a
radiological weapon, like the kind accused al-Qaida operative Abdullah al
Mujahir was allegedly plotting to explode.

Some see only a "minuscule" rise in cancer rates, while others predict that
huge sections of New York or Washington would become uninhabitable if such a
bomb were ever to go off.

All the experts stress that a "dirty bomb" is not the same as a nuclear
weapon, which generates intense heat and radiation from splitting atoms,
according to a statement from Rob Fanney and Jim Tinsley of defense watchdog
Jane's Information Group. A dirty bomb packs radioactive material inside or
around conventional explosives, which are then detonated to spread the
radioactive material.

The radiation wouldn't immediately kill, Naval War College professor William
Martel said. "But it'd create huge amounts of terror, havoc, and panic."

Especially for Gans -- even worse than his terror, havoc, panic and loose
feces on 9/11.  -- DSH

The most likely radioactive element in a dirty bomb is cesium-137, according
to Phil Anderson, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies. And the "consensus government view," according to a
March report in The Washington Post, is that al-Qaida "has probably
acquired" the isotope, which has a half-life of 30 years.

Cesium-137 is used to treat cancer and to maintain accurate atomic clocks.
And it's created as a byproduct of nuclear reaction -- the splitting of
uranium in a nuclear power plant, for example.

As cesium-137 "cools" from its radioactive to its normal state, the isotope
emits gamma radiation, waves of ultra-high electromagnetic energy. These
rays, while not as toxic as the heavier, alpha particle emitted by uranium,
travel further, and are extremely difficult to contain. Only concrete, steel
or lead can keep gamma radiation in check.

What's worse, cesium is the most "reactive" metal there is -- in nature,
cesium's always found combined with another element. So the isotope becomes
easily attached to roofing materials, concrete, and soil, said Fritz
Steinhausler, who led the International Atomic Energy Agency's environmental
assessment of the disaster at Chernobyl.

Once contaminated, it becomes nearly impossible to cleanse the radioactive
cesium off of these materials.

"The Russians tried to clean it up for years, and they eventually gave up.
It just wasn't economically viable," said Steinhausler, who's currently a
physics professor and visiting scholar at Stanford University's Center for
International Security and Cooperation.

"People had to give up their village or city.  Large areas became simply
empty," he added.  "It really destroys a society."

Hmmmmmm... "Give up their village..." As in GREENWICH VILLAGE, NEW YORK, or
HORSELL VILLAGE, SURREY, ENGLAND? -- DSH

In Goiania, Brazil, four people died and more than 34,000 people had to be
individually screened for contamination after a man in 1987 found an
abandoned medical device filled with cesium-137 in a junkyard.

And just consider how minor that case was as compared to a True Dirty Bomb,
with more Cesium-137. -- DSH

That's because cesium interacts disturbingly well with muscle tissue because
of its chemical similarity to potassium, which muscles need to flex.

Indeed. -- DSH

Fortunately, the body is used to processing these kind of chemicals, and
excretes half of the cesium it absorbs within 100 days. (In contrast,
radioactive strontium-90, similar to calcium, is absorbed into bone, and can
take 30 years for the body to get rid of half.) But the absorbed cesium
"would nevertheless cause a radiation dose, potentially increasing the risk
for cancer," Steinhausler said.

The risk is actually pretty minimal, replied Steve Koonin, a physics
professor at the California Institute of Technology.

"Long exposure to low-level gamma radiation, if you do the numbers, produces
a miniscule increase in cancer rates -- one extra cancer per 100,000
people," he said.

Members of the Federation of American Scientists paint a much darker
picture.

If a relatively tiny "dirty bomb" -- one containing only ten pounds of TNT
and pea-sized amount of cesium-137 -- were detonated in Washington,
federation scientists recently told Congress, "The initial passing of the
radioactive cloud would be relatively harmless, and no one would have to
evacuate immediately."

"However," the scientists continued, "residents of an area of about five
city blocks ... would have a one-in-a-thousand chance of getting cancer. A
swath about one mile long covering an area of forty city blocks would exceed
EPA contamination limits, with remaining residents having a one-in-ten
thousand chance of getting cancer.  If decontamination were not possible,
these areas would have to be abandoned for decades."

As in the FEDERAL TRIANGLE in Washington, D.C.?  Catastrophic! -- DSH

<http://www.washington-landmarks.com/federal.html>

"The Federal Triangle is an area just north of the National Mall that
stretches from the White House to the Capitol Building and contains a number
of key Federal office and Government buildings such as the FBI Building, the
National Archives, the Hoover Building and the Department of Justice."

"The Federal Triangle is adjacent to the downtown area and other popular
districts such as China Town.  As a result, there is an abundance of premier
shopping and fine dining close by."

And:

http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/Wash/dc42.htm

In February, a missing medical gauge containing exactly this amount of
cesium-137 was discovered in a North Carolina scrap yard. The Nuclear
Regulatory Commission said it receives nearly 300 reports of lost or stolen
radioactive materials every year.
--------------------------------------------------------

Just a PEA-SIZED bit of CESIUM-137...

Then consider COBALT-60...

And Americium-241 -- with a half-life of 432 years.

Also See:

<http://www.fas.org/faspir/2002/v55n2/dirtybomb.htm>

<http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/LooseNukes/story?id=1077341&page=1>

And:

<http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Apr/14/ln/ln24p.html>

Then there is the famous Doomsday Bomb, of _Dr. Strangelove_ fame:

<http://www.rense.com/general40/dooms.htm>

Cobalt-60 anyone?

DSH

Lux et Veritas et Libertas

Deus Vult

Dies Irae