Dirty Bomb Rockets Vanish

Washington Post ^ | Dec. 7, 2003 | Joby Warrick

[FairOpinion]

TIRASPOL, Moldova -- In the ethnic conflicts that surrounded the collapse of the Soviet Union, fighters in several countries seized upon an unlikely new weapon: a small, thin rocket known as the Alazan. Originally built for weather experiments, the Alazan was transformed into a terror weapon, packed with explosives and lobbed into cities. Military records show that at least 38 Alazan warheads were modified to carry radioactive material, effectively creating the world's first surface-to-surface dirty bomb.

The warheads are not known to have been used. But now, according to experts and officials, they have disappeared.

[FairOpinion]

Well, folks, the threat IS real!

[FairOpinion]

Just another small excerpt:

"But the existence of "radiological warheads" for the Alazan was unknown until two years ago, when military documents describing them were obtained by the Institute for Policy Studies, a research group in Chisinau, the Moldovan capital.

One document described an inventory of 38 "isotopic radioactive warheads of missiles of the Alazan type," including 24 that were attached to rocket. In the two other documents, the commander requested technical help in dealing with radiation exposure related to storage of the warheads."

Also, here is a link to the print version of the article ( all on one page, vs. the link above, where it's broken up into more than one page)


http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A41921-2003Dec6?language=printer

[FairOpinion]

PING

[GeronL]

I am sure whoever stole them intended them for peaceful purposes. /sarcasm

[blam]

"Well, folks, the threat IS real!"

It's just a matter of time.

[sarasmom]

Very hard to maintain such weapons in usable condition on the "fly".
Certain munitions "spoil" under less than ideal storage and maintenance conditions.
The inventory of the former Soviet Union is sold to less than intelligent buyers everyday.
Properly trained doctors will find the "missing" munitions in the fullness of time.

[Davea]

Abstract:

Citing the Jurnal de Chisinau, Evenimentul Zilei reported on 29 September 2001 the theft of four containers containing cesium from Moldova, and also reported that 14 radiological warheads that had been deployed with the Russian 14th Army in Moldova are stored in an unsecured location.

The four containers with cesium were declared missing in Balti Judet, Moldova in June 2001, and have not been recovered. Two containers were stolen on 31 May 2001 from a sugar factory in the town of Falesti. Two more were stolen on 20 June 2001 from a former concrete factory in the town of Balti, where a total of eight 143kg containers with cesium had been stored for 10 years, according to Balti police. Police believe the containers were stolen so the thieves could either sell the cesium or sell the containers for their scrap value. Criminal investigations in both cases continue, though neither investigation has identified any suspects.

Evenimentul Zilei also alleges that 14 radioactive isotope warheads are being stored in a tunnel of an abandoned rock mine in the village of Bicioc, Dubasari Judet, Moldova. These warheads were part of a stockpile of 38 radioactive isotope warheads installed on Alazan missiles at Silo 13 of Military Unit 4043, at the Tiraspol airfield. The remaining 24 warheads remain at Tiraspol. According to Evenimentul Zilei, these warheads explode before they hit the ground and mark the territory for air attacks by bombers, and the radiation does not have a negative effect on humans. If the warheads explode on the ground, however, they would have consequences similar to the detonation of a small nuclear bomb. [The Alazan is an weather control rocket designed to prevent hail. See http://www.rti.chuvashia.com/alazan5.htm] The paper cited letters between Russian 14th Army officers and anonymous interviews with another Russian officer in support of these allegations.

The Center for Nonproliferation Studies has not verified the accuracy or veracity of this report or the facts presented therein. For more information on the material in this database please contact Dr. Scott Parrish at sparrish@miis.edu.

[FairOpinion]

"Conventional arms originating in Transdniester have been turning up for years in conflict zones from the Caucasus to Central Africa, evidence of what U.S. officials describe as an invisible pipeline for smuggled goods that runs through Tiraspol to the Black Sea and beyond. Now, governments and terrorism experts fear the same pipeline is carrying nonconventional weapons such as the radioactive Alazan, and that terrorists are starting to tap in.

"For terrorists, this is the best market you could imagine: cheap, efficient and forgotten by the whole world," said Vladimir Orlov, founding director of the Center for Policy Studies in Moscow, a group that studies proliferation issues."

[Davea]

More interesting and scary stuff here...
http://www.iansa.org/oldsite/news/2002/feb2002/transnistria_armssupply4202.htm

[FairOpinion]

"Evenimentul Zilei also alleges that 14 radioactive isotope warheads are being stored in a tunnel of an abandoned rock mine in the village of Bicioc, Dubasari Judet, Moldova. These warheads were part of a stockpile of 38 radioactive isotope warheads installed on Alazan missiles at Silo 13 of Military Unit 4043, at the Tiraspol airfield. The remaining 24 warheads remain at Tiraspol. According to Evenimentul Zilei, these warheads explode before they hit the ground and mark the territory for air attacks by bombers, and the radiation does not have a negative effect on humans. If the warheads explode on the ground, however, they would have consequences similar to the detonation of a small nuclear bomb. "

An excellent find on your part. All this was known in 2001 and yet nobody did anything about it. Mindboggling!

[Davea]

It is minboggling. Here's the url if you want it. The other article is interesting too.

http://www.nti.org/db/nistraff/2001/20010560.htm

[FairOpinion]

Thanks!

I guess people didn't take that report seriously two years ago, and didn't check it out.

The terrorists could easily smuggle those rockets, they could even launch it from a ship over a city. They don't even have to aim it too accurately.

[DannyTN]

"and the radiation does not have a negative effect on humans. If the warheads explode on the ground, however, they would have consequences similar to the detonation of a small nuclear bomb. "

What does this mean? Why would the radiation have no effect if exploded in the air, but consequences similar to a small nuclear bomb if on the ground? And how small is small?

[FairOpinion]

Actually it does have an effect on humans. There was a comment on the WP article about that.

What I would guess that the 2001 article was saying is that if it explodes high in the atmosphere, it dissipates and it doesn't have a large impact, because it is distributed over a very large area, so the concentration would be small.

But if it explodes close to the ground, it impacts a smaller area, but could impact it more severely, with higher radiation levels.

This is a guess on my part, but I think it makes sense.

[FairOpinion]

"And how small is small?"

From a link from Davea's posted link:

http://www.rti.chuvashia.com/alazan5.htm

It gives the dimensions:

1.4 m (about 4.5 feet long)
Diameter: 96 mm (about 4 inches)
8.8 kg (about 20 lbs)
Range: 1.2 km -- about 3/4 mile

It doesn't say the weight of the payload, i.e. radioactive material in this case, that it can carry.

[GeronL]

I thought it was getting too quiet. I fear something might happen really soon.

[technomage]

Wow. Very scary stuff.

[FairOpinion]

"I thought it was getting too quiet. I fear something might happen really soon."

===

I am afraid you may be right -- just as we start to think that it can never happen again...

[FairOpinion]

I am somewhat surprised that Drudge didn't pick this story up.

I would think that having missiles filled with radiological materials not only existing, "the world's first surface-to-surface dirty bomb", but "missing", possibly in the hands of terrorists, would be headline breaking news. Especially with all the elevated chatter and holidays coming up and threat of attack increasing and so on.

It is also surprising to me that it is being mostly ignored here also.