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Someone chose the wrong truck to steal.

A bargain basement dirty bomb. I'm paranoid enough to think that terrorists would try such a crazy thing just because they really do want to die to promote their cause.
 
I didnt realize how dangerous Cobalt 60 was until reading about it last night.

That said I think the idea of a dirty bomb is rather dubious. No state has successfully built such a device using cobalt 60, and some have tried. Why would they believe any organization with much less resouces could pull it off? Reading about the dirty bomb capability of this requires an actual nuclear device to detonate it. That is a high barrier to entry in the dirty bomb building market.
 
"Excuse me...I'd like to return this stuff..."

ku-medium.jpg
 
:biggrin:
Before the container was found, he said the thieves most likely wanted the white 2007 Volkswagen cargo vehicle with a moveable platform and crane.
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Genx87 said:
I didnt realize how dangerous Cobalt 60 was until reading about it last night.

That said I think the idea of a dirty bomb is rather dubious. No state has successfully built such a device using cobalt 60, and some have tried. Why would they believe any organization with much less resouces could pull it off? Reading about the dirty bomb capability of this requires an actual nuclear device to detonate it. That is a high barrier to entry in the dirty bomb building market.
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Uh... there's so much potential - you don't necessarily need to make a dirty bomb to do bad things with it. Tons of organizations would pay good money for quantities of radioactive materials like this.
 
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Genx87 said:
I didnt realize how dangerous Cobalt 60 was until reading about it last night.

That said I think the idea of a dirty bomb is rather dubious. No state has successfully built such a device using cobalt 60, and some have tried. Why would they believe any organization with much less resouces could pull it off? Reading about the dirty bomb capability of this requires an actual nuclear device to detonate it. That is a high barrier to entry in the dirty bomb building market.
Click to expand...

I don't think you quite understand the concept of a dirty bomb. All it does is spread radioactive material around. A stick of dynamite and some radioactive waste like this is all that would be required.
 
People always find new ways of doing stupid things.


Eibenschutz said the transport company did not follow proper procedures and should have had GPS and security with the truck.

"The driver also lacked common sense because he decided to park along a highway so he could sleep," Eibenschutz said.
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Yes, when transporting very dangerous materials, which criminals might love to get, don't bother keeping a close eye on it. Security? Only if you can pay them less than a dollar an hour, and if it's going to be less than an hour.
 
Carson Dyle said:
I don't think you quite understand the concept of a dirty bomb. All it does is spread radioactive material around. A stick of dynamite and some radioactive waste like this is all that would be required.
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I understand what a dirty bomb is supposed to be.. Strapping Cobalt 60 to a stick of dynamite would contaminate a very small area.
 
Well, looks like the thief now has bone marrow to match his brains.



"Life's hard. It's harder if you're stupid." -John Wayne
 
Genx87 said:
I understand what a dirty bomb is supposed to be.. Strapping Cobalt 60 to a stick of dynamite would contaminate a very small area.
Click to expand...

Dirty bombs are all about the ability to rapidly deploy nuclear contamination to small areas. It's not about taking down entire cities - more like a block or two, depending on explosion force and how well planned the explosion is. Is it more about incineration, or percussive? Depending on radioactive material and explosive of choice, some may be destroyed that reduces fallout potential.

That is, in essence, the stereotypical dirty bomb too. I remember cobalt getting brought up numerous times in past discussions of likely choice of material, because of situations like this - it is easier to get hands on medical-class radioactive material than it is some weapons-grade or reactor fuel (or by-products, which some are often the same as that which is early in the weapons-grade process).
You won't likely ever see plutonium or uranium in a dirty bomb - that's a waste of material foreign actors would prefer to place in something more sophisticated. The challenge with most of these activities is not necessarily the bomb building - though it requires expertise for sure, getting the product alone is the most difficult step. There are numerous "mad scientists" who know the trade but could be willing to support the right extremist cause. Since it's not as difficult to acquire, and less valuable for any other activities, and still accomplishes the "terror" aspect, cobalt-60 and "TNT" (or some combo of TNT/RDX/etc), or, failing prepared explosives, the fertilizer approach.
 
A dirty bomb is a short term area denial weapon. It serves little purpose as a terror weapon, except for the unreasonable fear the population has for all things radioactive.
That self same fear makes it difficult to acquire, as it will usually be missed, the material is easily detected due to its gamma radiation emissions, which checkpoints may well be on the lookout for - especially if some is reported missing.

It may be easier to just start a Dioxin producing reaction instead, or something similar, that has as-great area-denial capabilities, while being lower on the scale for oversight and materials control.

Terrorism is about showing off, radiation is invisible, and horribly inefficient at killing someone, that isn't exposed to massive doses externally, or ingests a good quantity of the stuff.
 
And at least half the fun of detonating a dirty bomb in the middle of a highly populated area is the panic that it would cause. Can you imagine what kind of chaos would ensue at the news of a dirty bomb exploding in the middle of Manhattan? You'd have people trampling each other to death getting as far away as they could.
 
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