Oh ****, Al Qaeda making dirty bomb

[willy88]

http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/world/al-qaeda-develop-dirty-bomb-7569.html

Am I the only one that pictures James Bond breaking into an Al Qaeda base, knocking out all the henchmen, and blowing up their cave with the dirty bomb, while Osama escapes in a rocket? Sorry, I can't read the word "MI6" without thinking of James Bond.

Anyways, it would be really bad if Al Qaeda get's a dirty bomb. If they blew it up in a city like New York, there would be widespread panic, chaos, and confusion.

Despite that, I'm surprised they haven't threatened to try any of these:

http://www.exitmundi.nl/terrorism.htm

 

[tl8]

This is what happens when you don't clean your explosives regularly

 

[Urwumpe]

Oh no, a dirty bomb! We should all commit suicide before they explode it anywhere. *drama*

Anybody could build such a bomb, the MI6 statement is thus no surprise at all, and even a normal bomb causes only slightly less damage as a dirty bomb. Instead of repeating 20 year old theories, they should finally do their job and find the AQ leaders...

 

[garyw]

In a “dirty bomb”, conventional explosives are surrounded with radioactive material.
The MI6 priority alert says such a device, while having a limited effect as a nuclear weapon, would create widespread panic.

It's not hard to create widespread panic. A few years ago we had that when petrol prices went up and lorry drivers blockaded the refineries in the UK. Panic buying and fights on petrol forecourts were common place and this only lasted five days or so.

 

[pattersoncr]

I've heard a dirty bomb described as the "perfect terror weapon"
Think about it, if you want to end up with enough radioactivity scattered over a large area to actually be dangerous, you'll have to start out with all that material in one place (wrapped around the bomb). If you had that much activity in one place, it'd be so hot that it would kill the would-be bomb maker in minutes (not to mention the bomb transporter, bomb planter, bomb setter-offer, etc). The end result is that any dirty bomb that could practically be made is no more dangerous than a conventional explosive of the same size. No more dangerous in reality. Of course the ignoroant people in the general public who quail at the mere words "nuclear" or "radioactive" would probably die of fright rather than the explosion. (Notice I said explosion rather than radiation, noone would actually die from that.)

 

[Urwumpe]

At least - Al Qaeda can sure not build a real dirty bomb. A nuclear bomb with Cobalt as augmentation. The true terror device as it creates real hard radiation over a large area.

I think, our own terror fighters are currently working harder on helping the terrorists by making them potentially more capable as they are in reality, only for playing safe and gather more funding.

 

[Kyle]

It's not hard to create widespread panic. A few years ago we had that when petrol prices went up and lorry drivers blockaded the refineries in the UK. Panic buying and fights on petrol forecourts were common place and this only lasted five days or so.

Thats the terroriests goal. To cause widespreat panic and fear, hence 'Terror' ests.

 

[Zatnikitelman]

The homeless moron down the street could build a "dirty" bomb by rummaning through the local hospital's radioactive waste and dumping the crap into a can of gasoline then light the match. The point is not to say that it isn't a "real" threat, but that al qaeda is nothing special. Anyone who knew what they were doing could do it, and probably more accessibly than al qaeda.

 

[Moonwalker]

Well, I'm generally concerned about each bomb we have around the globe.

Also, in my point of view each kind of nuclear weapon is dirty. I don't see what makes bombs like Little Joe or Fat Man non-dirty.

 

[Melocoton]

Also, in my point of view each kind of nuclear weapon is dirty. I don't see what makes bombs like Little Joe or Fat Man non-dirty.

- The fact that they're American? I actually don't worry about one more "dirty bomb" from Al Qaeda, I think the media, etc. are always trying to scare us with this.. Make us agressive and fearful in return.

 

[Moonwalker]

- The fact that they're American?

...but were used against civilian population, does not make it non-dirty.

I don't actually care who owns them. I'm concerned only because of their existence, and what this causes...

 

[willy88]

I personally think that the perfect terror weapon would be an E-bomb. Imagine living without cars, cell phones, computers, clocks, flashlights, iPods, electric heating, watches, GPS, television, aircraft, radio, ANYTHING electronic.

A dirty bomb is quite pathetic as a weapon.

 

[Urwumpe]

That is a nuclear weapon. Generates massive EMP, that's why it is planned to detonate some warheads of the first salvo in space to disrupt radio communications.

 

[garyw]

Thats the terroriests goal. To cause widespreat panic and fear, hence 'Terror' ests.

Yes but terrorists never blockaded the fuel pumps. Most people are sheep and will panic and the slighest thing out of the norm.

 

[Linguofreak]

Well, I'm generally concerned about each bomb we have around the globe.

Also, in my point of view each kind of nuclear weapon is dirty. I don't see what makes bombs like Little Joe or Fat Man non-dirty.

They're not non-dirty. It's just that "dirty" is a relative term. So called "dirty bombs" are conventional weapons that are "dirtier" than normal conventional weapons. Little Boy and Fat Man weren't much (if at all) dirtier than most nuclear weapons of the same yield.

 

[Urwumpe]

It also depends on how you use the bombs. If you let a Mk 61 explode below the surface, you turn a region of a few dozen square kilometers into a nuclear wasteland.

 

[Linguofreak]

I've heard a dirty bomb described as the "perfect terror weapon"
Think about it, if you want to end up with enough radioactivity scattered over a large area to actually be dangerous, you'll have to start out with all that material in one place (wrapped around the bomb). If you had that much activity in one place, it'd be so hot that it would kill the would-be bomb maker in minutes (not to mention the bomb transporter, bomb planter, bomb setter-offer, etc). The end result is that any dirty bomb that could practically be made is no more dangerous than a conventional explosive of the same size. No more dangerous in reality. Of course the ignoroant people in the general public who quail at the mere words "nuclear" or "radioactive" would probably die of fright rather than the explosion. (Notice I said explosion rather than radiation, noone would actually die from that.)

But radiation generally takes a fairly long time to kill. You can take a fatal radiation dose in the space of an hour but still have a few days left before you start puking up your intestines. Considering that terrorists are often willing to blow themselves up to kill people, it's not totally beyond the realm of possibility that a group might build a dirty bomb and be prepared to take the radiation dose involved in making and transporting it. The guy that detonated it wouldn't even have to deal with much radiation sickness. He could blow himself up before it got very bad.

 

[Zatnikitelman]

The difference between a dirty and standard nuclear weapon is this:
A standard nuke detonated in free-space will not leave much radiation.
A dirty nuke detonated in free-space may not have the blast-power of a nuke, but it spreads a whole lot of radiation because it is simply a distributor of radioactive materials.
Think about the Tsar Bomba, largest nuke air-detonated, but because it didnt irradiiate then throw up stuff on the ground, the area under where it detonated was not the radioactive wasteland of the Nevada desert, or Hiroshima/Nagasaki.

 

[pattersoncr]

But radiation generally takes a fairly long time to kill. You can take a fatal radiation dose in the space of an hour but still have a few days left before you start puking up your intestines. Considering that terrorists are often willing to blow themselves up to kill people, it's not totally beyond the realm of possibility that a group might build a dirty bomb and be prepared to take the radiation dose involved in making and transporting it. The guy that detonated it wouldn't even have to deal with much radiation sickness. He could blow himself up before it got very bad.

We're talking about an enormous amount of radioactive material here. How do you acquire it? How do you collect it? How do you concentrate it? We're talking about a lot of work in close proximity to all of that activity, and we're beginning to talk about an increasingly large number of people who would have to be exposed to a lethal dose to get it done. You can always find one or two whack-jobs willing to blow themselves up. How about dozens? Highly technically competent people?

What I'm saying is that a dirty bomb "dirty" enough to be any worse than a conventional explosive is so unlikely as to strain the bounds of credibility. It is even more unlikely when we consider that you can have all of the terror with little of the hassle by making the bomb 'just a little bit dirty' (i.e. no more dangerous than a "clean" bomb)It'll still scare the bejezus out of people who think that nuclear "is da devil".


-----Post Added-----

The difference between a dirty and standard nuclear weapon is this:
A standard nuke detonated in free-space will not leave much radiation.
A dirty nuke detonated in free-space may not have the blast-power of a nuke, but it spreads a whole lot of radiation because it is simply a distributor of radioactive materials.
Think about the Tsar Bomba, largest nuke air-detonated, but because it didnt irradiiate then throw up stuff on the ground, the area under where it detonated was not the radioactive wasteland of the Nevada desert, or Hiroshima/Nagasaki.

Hiroshima & Nagasaki were not radioactive wastelands either. Both were air bursts if I remember correctly and both are thriving cities now. I've been to Nagasaki other than the areas that have been set aside for rememberance, it's just like any other modern city.

 

[adamb193]

If you really wanted to you could make a dirty bomb, just need some radioactive materials, a car and what ever you want for explosives.