Posted on 05/27/2008 8:48:06 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
LOL Bring them a stool sample and tell them you had them confused with your proctoligist.
A confession, I once worked in the nuclear industry. I have been part of a plutonium cleanup at a laboratory, and I once did calculations for the impact of power plant hypothetical nuclear releases.
Outside of the "fear-factor" having to do with theoretical increases in the number of cancers, I think that a nuclear devise of two (if post cleanup is dealt with aggressively and not bogged down with EIS analysis)would do little long term economic data. Hosing down the area and flushing things into rivers or oceans and then putting a fresh coat of paint on things would do much to either get rid of or encapsulate any residual radiation.
Having talked to "bomb" people who talk in LD-50/30's and civilian power people who talk in the tiniest of dose rates was a very interesting eye-opener.
What are you doing here?
I still think it will be biological when they hit us, not nuclear.
I don’t think it will be bio attack. Terrorists don’t innovate—there is a reason they have been using carbombing and suicide bombings since the early 80’s. It will most likely be one of two things: a dirty bomb or another simultaneous multi target strike here in the USA. Think of a half dozen SBs going off at malls or shopping centers simultaneously. Something that will shock and awe us. If they go to dirty bomb, it will be to create heavy fear and panic...in addition to immediate casualties.
Did you write Dead Heat? That is the beginning of the book.
What do you mean what am I doing here?
Jumping in here......I'd FAR rather "look like" East Europe and LIVE and BREATHE than the alternative.
Thanks for posting this piece. My fear is that the next terrorist campaign will involve conventional weapons (Hamas, Islamic Jihad) relaunching its rocket campaign against Israel. Use of WMD against the west is also a possibility, though much less likely.
Of course 1-2 small devices would cause little damage beyond the intense fear factor.
But 10-20 or more devices could be crippling. Of course people scream it's not possible but if someone told me it was possible bring down the entire WTC complex on 9/10 into dust, I'd have laughed at them and said “they sealed off the underground after the last bomb so it's not happening and there's no way they could hit all the buildings”.
Security was laughable at some nuke sites I visited within the US for my studies, even post 9/11. The fact that former-USSR nations were holding nuclear fuel does not inspire confidence in the least bit.
I escaped from there and know the utter stupidity, greed and corruption of many of my people is infinite. It will put dangerous material into somebody's hands for the right price or the right target. There are still some die-hard Soviet crazies that would delight in nuking us without retaliation.
If Tesla’s idea really worked, why aren’t we jumping on it know?
I agree.
I still would like to know who was responsible for the Anthrax attack on the Florida tabloid and the halls of power in WA DC. There never has been a credible explanation from my standpoint.
I would also like to know why they guy in Nevada had and was messing around with ricin or caster bean stuff. The arrest of this guy was kind of swept under the rug.
Security was laughable at some nuke sites I visited within the US for my studies, even post 9/11. The fact that former-USSR nations were holding nuclear fuel does not inspire confidence in the least bit.
Since 9/11 various enforcement agencies have been looking at connections much more than they use to. Any effort that would bring in 10 to 20 devices and plan for their near simultaneous detonation, would likely draw the attention of HLS, NSA, or law enforcement for one of its cells. That is a big difference between now and then.
Again, bomb designers talk in terms of lethal dose for 50% of the exposed population within 30 days. Those are huge amounts of radiation. In the civilian nuclear world the dose rates discussed are absolutely minuscule. This means that a dirty bomb is likely to harm a "few people" within 30 to 90 days and be mostly a clean-up problem. If authorities just hose if down and paint the area rather than wringing their hands over the ecological effects on the streams and fish, the clean-up "problem" of a dirty bomb is likely quite small except for the litigation about not following environmental laws.
As to current nuclear facility security, in February, when I inspected an operating nuclear plant, I saw elaborate security in incredible depth. One of the guys I was with didn't really understand security and asked why we had to go through some chain link mazes to get into the plant. I explained to him that they were killing fields where someone trying to get in would be machine-gunned to death by the guards. Sometimes, the security isn't obvious until you realize what it is. The facility I was at had security that I thought was a bit over the top, but recognized that it was designed by people who understood logistics and how to kill intruders.
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