Reuters: 33 lbs of weapons grade Uranium seized....

[Dr Mordrid]

More than enough for a bomb. Seized by Turkish paramilitaries in a taxi just 155 miles from Iraqi border;

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=1508708

Naw......no WMD problem with Iraq

CNN reports that there was slightly more; 34.6 lbs, and that it likely originated in a former Soviet republic or satellite state.

Point of reference: Little Boy (Hiroshima) used 55 lbs of weapons grade uranium, but a more efficient design would allow for a much more compact device, perhaps several, to be made from a similar quantity of material.

Dr. Mordrid

[Dogbert]

Thank god the arrow was invented...

[Wombat]

Ahh yes, for shooting down all those suitcase bombs....

I highly doubt Saddam's first choice delivery method is airborne.

This was probably going to Iraq, but I'm not certain at this point. Fine, captured in Turkey, but Turkey borders the north end of Iraq, which is pretty much opposition-controlled territory. Saddam has a perfectly good port, and it seems more likely that Syria or elements in Saudi Arabia would be supporting him.

[Dogbert]

Last time it was Scud missiles (some had cement warheads )

[Joel]

I agree with you Wombat it is the whole of the Middle East that we have to worry about but we do have to start somewhere. I just pray that Ft.Collins is not their first choice or is it one of those, that it is OK as long as it doesn't happen to you???

He has them, he will use them, it is not a matter of if but when, and then those who feel that all we need to do is trun our backs and ignore it and it will go away will be going opps. But then again maybe not as long as it doesn't happen to them.

Joel

[SpiralDragon]

Doc: the tag on the cylinder clearly states that it is Made in Germany.... not former Soviet republic or satellite state....

[thop]

it says made in W.GERMANY, that means it was made before 1990.

[Dogbert]

So it means it's like a collector's item ?

[moreau]

For one, it means it is becoming more and more dangerous to handle.

I'm in condensed matter physics, and am no expert on nuclear physics, by far. but...

As Weapons grade plutonium or Uranium ages, there are transuranic isotopes generated (americium, don't recall which mass number), which though trace in amount are responsible for the majority of the Radioactivity of the material. Thus you get increased gamma and beta production which, depending on the energy of the radiation can make it just more deadly to handle (increased risk of exposure) or actually increase the likelyhood of a criticality accident.

Though, I'm sure that whoever was securing this stuff, for whatever purpose, was aware of these dangers...



Charles

[Dr Mordrid]

It means that someone bought some nuclelar shipping containers from Germany and is using them for smuggling contraband nuclear materials. That this one was made many years ago just means those things last nearly forever.

This is not the type of container used for medical materials, indicating that some suppliers don't seem to be very particular about where their nuclear implementing technologies end up. The aluminum tubes seized a few weeks ago are another example.

Carbon fiber and specialized steels are better choices for a uranium enrichment centrifuge because they can be spun up to higher speeds thus making the U-235 extraction more efficient, aluminum is easier to get under a quarantine situation like Iraq faces.

Enriching uranium with aluminum based centrifuges takes longer, yeilding only about 25kg/year per centrifuge cascade, but using multiple cascades speeds things up.

In any case; those who believe that Iraq isn't close to or in posession of the materials to make a bomb are grossly underestimating what can be done using lo-tech methods.

Once you have the enriched material (U-235 in this case) making a bomb is very easy to accomplish using a gun type mechanism instead of the more sophisticated implosion method used for plutonium devices. This is why a gun-type mechanism was used for Little Boy, the Hiroshima bomb. It was less likely to produce a dud.

OTOH even reactor grade plutonium (vs. weapons grade and as found in nuclear power plants) can be used in a "quickie" bomb. It can even be used in a gun-type weapon, but with less efficiency because of reactor grade plutonium causes problems.

One problem is that many reactor grade plutonium isotopes have a high neutron flux (particuarly plutonium-240). This reduces the yeild because pre-detonation causes the device to destroy itself before all the material is fissioned. Other plutonium isotopes have other problems including high heat generation and rapid americium-241 buildup. Plutonium-239 is the desired material for implosion devices because it has the best comprimise of "features" and therefore higher stability.

Even so, if one is willing to accept its lower yeild and the design limitations reactor grade plutonium can be used for a small gun-type weapon (aka: suitcase bomb) yeilding <5 kilotons (15kt = Hiroshima). Such a device would be insanely easy to make once you have the material and would be highly portable. It could be stuffed into a SCUD or a shipping container.

From there I refer you to the movie "Peacemaker" for how such a device could be delivered. The movie has some plot problems (like why the FBI didn't leave someone to guard the hotel entrances while the insertion team went upstairs to grab Dusan), but otherwise it's concept is unnerving.

Dr. Mordrid

[Dogbert]

In this case, how much material was left here eventually ?

[Dr Mordrid]

The raid took place before the Iraqi reactor was fueled, so none.

Dr. Mordrid

[Joel]

I have a question. If Iraq is so adamant about the fact that they do not have any biological, chemical or nuclear capabilites why are they so adamant about making sure that the 300+ "presidental palaces" are excluded from possible weapons inspections??? They keep saying they have nothing to hide.

Joel

[Dr Mordrid]

They call it "newspeak"; first defined by George Orwell in the story "1984" but perfected by politicians and despots millennia ago.

Whatevery they say take the inverse as the actual meaning.

Dr. Mordrid

[Dogbert]

Maybe because Saddam doesn't want the inspectors to scare all his cuncubines ?

Ever suspected how many missing girls from all around the world are held in Harems ?
My mom's friend in France saved her daughters in the last few minutes before being 'shipped' on a plane. They were drugged and wore a burka so nobody could recognise them.