ISIS has a dirty bomb???????

[K1052]

The IAEA assessment earlier this year when they were taken was that the materials were low grade and not a significant threat. Yawn.

 

[Blanky]

Does ISIS come across as demonstrably uneducated? Because their military adventures over the past year have come across as absolutely brilliant strategically. Most of ISIS' leadership is incredibly educated. While they have many grunts and dummies doing their hardwork, at the top of the chain are smart people.

I wouldn't call them uneducated at all.

Maybe a few of their leadership rank are educated but the bulk of them are the equivalent to hillbillies minus the redneck ingenuity. People who scream Allah Akbar endlessly while doing stupid and savage shit don't strike me as scholarly. But then I seem to be of an unfortunate minority who have never been terribly scared terrorism because with only one exception has it ever taken a lot of lives in the US.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Maybe a few of their leadership rank are educated but the bulk of them are the equivalent to hillbillies minus the redneck ingenuity. People who scream Allah Akbar endlessly while doing stupid and savage shit don't strike me as scholarly. But then I seem to be of an unfortunate minority who have never been terribly scared terrorism because with only one exception has it ever taken a lot of lives in the US.

I don't believe in conveying mystical powers to ISIS either. The handling of dangerous materials really isn't that difficult, at least not what they would have access to. If they blew up a car with this in it a limited area would be affected for a short period of time. The chief value of dirty bombs lies in never using the, but scaring the crap out of people. Why? Because they won't do the damage attributed to them and why lose the value of fear by doing that?

 

[UglyCasanova]

Not only did they aquire uranium at Mosul University, they also placed strict orders that the school of visual arts is to be renamed "decorative sketching".

Link


Sounds to me like they need a shrubbery.

 

[Ventanni]

Depleted Uranium is essentially harmless*. They use it in large calibre artillery, airplane ballast, and I believe you can even buy it in small amounts. I guess they could use it as shrapnel, but there are certainly cheaper alternatives (like nails.)

Again, depleted Uranium is U-238 (with a negligible amount of U235), harmless from a weapons stand point and it has a very, very long half-life so its not very dangerous to humans. U235 is what is used in power reactors and some nuclear weapons. The difference between U-238 and U-235 is becoming a nuclear super power. Yeah, a huge difference.

*Anyway as a health hazard, the government shoots it out of cannons and leaves it on the battlefield. So... The only way it is really dangerous is if you eat it.

To answer the OP's question, "radioactive" uranium would contain more U-235. It is HIGHLY doubtful that it has a weaponized amount of U-235 (80%+). That is highly, highly regulated and would not be available to universities. They may have power reactor grade U235, which is around 20%. Still doubtful though.

The health effects of U235 don't make it a good dirty bomb material. It has relatively long half life, so much so that some is still around from the formation of the Earth. It would be a PITA to clean up, but there wouldn't be too much human damage from its radioactivity.

The government uses it in military applications due to its incredible density. It makes for fantastic (albeit incredibly heavy) armor plating and an excellent tool for punching through enemy armor.

With that said, the effects of depleted uranium are still being studied, but it doesn't look very good. Depleted uranium, while not radioactive, is still toxic, and like most heavy metals (heavier than iron), they're difficult for the human body to remove.

But let's be honest here. War is immeasurably toxic to the environment. If you look at the cancer and birth defect rates of particular areas that have seen war in the last 50 years, you'll see that they're *significantly higher* than areas that have only seen peace. So that makes studying the effects of depleted uranium a little difficult.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Spreading fear in the name of righteousness. Boths sides are guilty of it.

always one idiot in the bunch...

 

[AnitaPeterson]

From what I read about the characteristics of the material supposedly captured, I think that the mass hysteria resulting from popular ignorance (fueled by unscrupulous media and politicians) would be far more dangerous than the bomb itself. Plus, as others have already observed, the detection mechanisms in place make it highly unlikely for dumb terrorists to succeed in sneaking radioactive materials over the border.

Hasn't anyone seen "The Peacemaker"?

A biological/chemical bomb would be far more dangerous at this point.

 

[bshole]

A biological/chemical bomb would be far more dangerous at this point.

A really really smoking hot jihadi woman with an STD could cause a ton of mayhem as well. The guys would be lining up to sleep with her. It would be a kind of germ warfare.

 

[werepossum]

Not sure what you mean, but a dirty device might, in fact, be more "destructive" than a conventional bomb.

Sure, the conventional bomb would have a more destructive blast. I mean a more destructive physical effect on buildings etc, but if sufficiently 'dirty' could render an area uninhabitable. That would be even more destructive. Imagine a chunk of downtown real estate in Manhattan or London rendered useless.

Fern

Yep. I think it was Brazil that had a handful of people die and a bunch of people sickened from kids playing with radioactive cesium. I don't think they ever figured out where it originated. Unlike bomb radiation it can be cleaned up, but it's very expensive and time consuming.

I still vote for B-52s and a few Arch Light type of missions in a spot or two.

But that's just me I guess.

Nope, me too. They missed a hell of a chance when ISIS took the Iraqi military base. No civilians, no friendlies - bring in the Bufs.

Depleted Uranium is essentially harmless*. They use it in large calibre artillery, airplane ballast, and I believe you can even buy it in small amounts. I guess they could use it as shrapnel, but there are certainly cheaper alternatives (like nails.)

Again, depleted Uranium is U-238 (with a negligible amount of U235), harmless from a weapons stand point and it has a very, very long half-life so its not very dangerous to humans. U235 is what is used in power reactors and some nuclear weapons. The difference between U-238 and U-235 is becoming a nuclear super power. Yeah, a huge difference.

*Anyway as a health hazard, the government shoots it out of cannons and leaves it on the battlefield. So... The only way it is really dangerous is if you eat it.

To answer the OP's question, "radioactive" uranium would contain more U-235. It is HIGHLY doubtful that it has a weaponized amount of U-235 (80%+). That is highly, highly regulated and would not be available to universities. They may have power reactor grade U235, which is around 20%. Still doubtful though.

The health effects of U235 don't make it a good dirty bomb material. It has relatively long half life, so much so that some is still around from the formation of the Earth. It would be a PITA to clean up, but there wouldn't be too much human damage from its radioactivity.

They may have some cesium from medical or research sources. I think that's the best material for a dirty bomb if memory serves. Although powdered DU would be good too - it's a heavy metal.

 

[Jaskalas]

If they had a weaponized amount of HE uranium then they wouldn't be wasting it on a conventional bomb, not that there's that much they could get. So far you are the only one that gets it. The fact is that a dirty bomb is the ebola of terrorists. All it take is for one person to get here, like they did, and were all dead. Nope. It's a psychological weapon. What happens when one detonates? You hose things off and down the sewers it goes unless it rains first. I don't think people know the difference between nuclear weapons and dirty bombs. You cannot turn NY into Chernobyl by this means. The physics do not permit it.

The financial damage would be massive.