Experts Worry Terrorists Could Get Nuke Bomb Oct 12, 10:23 AM (ET) By Louis Charbonneau
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - International nuclear experts are quietly confronting the most terrifying scenario of all -- what to do if terrorists manage to build and detonate a nuclear fission bomb, a diplomat and senior nuclear scientist said. The diplomat, who is also close to the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), told reporters a team of ICRP experts from around the world had met this weekend in Stockholm to discuss emergency responses should this scenario become a reality. Asked what was the worst-case realistic scenario for an act of nuclear terror, the diplomat said: "A very badly done, but done nuclear weapon." After the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned states must tighten up security of radioactive sources to prevent terrorists getting hold of them to make a "dirty bomb" -- when a conventional explosive like dynamite is used to disperse radioactive material. The IAEA has always said the possibility of terrorists making nuclear fission devices was very low because of the difficulty of acquiring bomb-grade uranium or plutonium and the technical sophistication needed to construct a fission bomb. "The biggest hurdle in making nuclear weapons is getting weapons-grade material," IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said. But the diplomat who is also a nuclear scientist, suggested that it was not so hard: "Do you really believe it's difficult?" As for the technical difficulties, he said: "I know that to do a bad nuclear weapon, not one that would destroy a whole city but just to make an explosion, is not so difficult." JUST A FEW KILOS Although it would take 55 to 80 pounds of highly enriched uranium (HEU) to make a conventional nuclear bomb, the diplomat said in Stockholm that it would be possible to make a less efficient bomb with "just a few kilos." "The efficiency of the explosion will be bad (but) you will get a chain reaction," he said, but there would probably be no mushroom cloud, the trademark of a sophisticated fission bomb. In the simplest terms, the chain reaction in a classic atomic bomb is triggered when a high explosive like TNT is detonated and compresses the highly unstable bomb-grade material into such a dense mass that it sparks a fission explosion. Without giving details, the diplomat said a crude fission device could cause significant damage -- in contrast to the kind of dirty bomb that has been widely discussed in the media, aimed more at causing panic than physical harm and destruction. In December 1994, Czech police seized 2.72 kg of HEU from the back seat of a parked car in Prague, the largest ever seizure of bomb-grade nuclear material. Shifting to the topic of dirty bombs, the diplomat said underground railway systems could be targets. He said highly-radioactive caesium-137 powder, found in many hospitals, would be the likely material of choice. "When the train is coming it is like a piston. You just open the canister and...after two or three hours you'll have cesium all over the tube," the diplomat said. "Nothing will (probably) happen from the health point of view but people will be so afraid that no one will use it," he said. "I know the London Underground has a working party looking at this." Several dirty bomb simulation studies have concluded that an attack with cesium would result in diluted, low-level exposure. But in 1987, a single canister of it was found in a Brazil junkyard and caused a serious radiation contamination disaster. A total of 249 people were exposed, 10 were seriously injured and four died due to heavy exposure. There has never been a dirty bomb attack, but the diplomat said he assumed it was only a matter of time before it happened. Source: Reuters/My Way URL: http://news.myway.com/world/article/id/360143|world|10-12-2003::10:30|reuter s. html ________________________________ Changes to your subscription (unsubs, nomail, digest) can be made by going to http://sandboxmail.net/mailman/listinfo/sndbox_sandboxmail.net
