Al-Qaida on brink of using nuclear bomb

[Paxton25]

Al-Qaida is on the verge of producing radioactive weapons after sourcing nuclear material and recruiting rogue scientists to build 'dirty' bombs, according to leaked diplomatic documents.

A leading atomic regulator has privately warned that the world stands on the brink of a 'nuclear 9/11'. Security briefings suggest that jihadi groups are also close to producing 'workable and efficient' biological and chemical weapons that could kill thousands if unleashed in attacks on the West.

Thousands of classified American cables obtained by the WikiLeaks website and passed to The Daily Telegraph detail the international struggle to stop the spread of weapons-grade nuclear, chemical and biological material around the globe.

At a NATO meeting in January 2009, security chiefs briefed member states that al-Qaida was plotting a program of 'dirty radioactive IEDs', makeshift nuclear roadside bombs that could be used against British troops in Afghanistan.

Wikileaks Propaganda 'Al-Qaida on brink of using nuclear bomb'

 

[DaisyDay]

A dirty bomb isn't the same as a nuclear bomb.

 

[Paxton25]

A dirty bomb isn't the same as a nuclear bomb.

That's so true! There's nothing like a nuke to brighten your day
YouTube - Terminator 2 Ruined Scene

 

[PHenry42]

Radiactive roadside bombs? Fo realz? Instead of spreading radioactive dust in the midst of a major city where millions could be exposed to it, they'd detonate it on a road in the middle of nowhere in Afghanistan, where it may with some luck contaminate the poor sop who detonates it (if he isn't killed by the bomb blast), but will then accomplish nothing but poison the country they're trying to liberate?

I call scaremongering buzzword soup.

 

[Christos Anesti]

I'm not sure why they would waste money on a dirty bomb when it could be channeled into a much more effective avenue . I guess they sound scary though so maybe it would inspire more terror even if it wasn't particularly effective? Chemicals weapons need to be used in mass to be particularly effective on the battle field too. I guess using one in a major city might be "worthwhile" (if you consider killing people a worthwhile enterprise) but a few chemical artillery shells are not going to do much to our troops. It was a little more effective in WWI when people stayed in their trenches but thats not the case now. Especially when they just put their masks on. You need a LOT of chemical weapons to change the tide of a war. Do they even have that many artillery pieces, planes, or missiles to deploy them with? A chemical IED would just be a waste of time and money.

 

[SpiritualAntiseptic]

Building a nuclear bomb is no easy task.

 

[rambot]

Building a nuclear bomb is no easy task.

Uhm sorry..... yes it is.

You just make a bomb and then put some nuculear stuff in it.

 

[SpiritualAntiseptic]

Uhm sorry..... yes it is.

You just make a bomb and then put some nuculear stuff in it.

That would, of course, be a dirty bomb

I also heard you could put nukular stickers on a bomb and it would make it nukular.

 

[blanning]

That would, of course, be a dirty bomb

I also heard you could put nukular stickers on a bomb and it would make it nukular.

Actually, it's not difficult at all. All the required pieces and parts can be acquired on the black market, or even on ebay. It's getting the enriched uranium or plutonium that's the hard part. Also, making the device small enough to put on a missile takes some technology. But the pakistanis did it.

All you really need to do is have two quantities of uranium that together equal critical mass. Then you need some explosives to force them together at high temperatures. Then you get a nuclear detonation. That's it.

I was watching a documentary the other day that detailed how someone could assemble one from readily available parts. They actually used a surplus howitzer and sealed the end of it. Part of the uranium was at the end of the barrel, and the other end was where the shell goes. You need a machinist with a metalworking lathe you can get anywhere. The gun is available surplus for cheap. You need someone to do the electronics to act as a timer so you can get away (or not). And that's really all there is to it. They showed parts list and prices. It was like $5 million. And 80% of that was the enriched uranium.

brian

 

[Goodtry]

Radiactive roadside bombs? Fo realz? Instead of spreading radioactive dust in the midst of a major city where millions could be exposed to it, they'd detonate it on a road in the middle of nowhere in Afghanistan, where it may with some luck contaminate the poor sop who detonates it (if he isn't killed by the bomb blast), but will then accomplish nothing but poison the country they're trying to liberate?

I call scaremongering buzzword soup.

I tend to agree with this assessment which is why I suspect it hasn't been done yet. It would be a waste of limited resources to make a radioactive IED. Terrorists may be crazy but they're not stupid. It would actually be more effective to sacrifice a low-level functionary, have him carry a canister of radioactive waste and sprinkle it around a shopping mall or stadium. Thousands would come down with radiation sickness and cancer before anyone knew what was happening. Terrorists could claim responsibility afterwards and threaten further attacks thus inciting panic.

 

[SpiritualAntiseptic]

Actually, it's not difficult at all. All the required pieces and parts can be acquired on the black market, or even on ebay. It's getting the enriched uranium or plutonium that's the hard part. Also, making the device small enough to put on a missile takes some technology. But the pakistanis did it.

All you really need to do is have two quantities of uranium that together equal critical mass. Then you need some explosives to force them together at high temperatures. Then you get a nuclear detonation. That's it.

I was watching a documentary the other day that detailed how someone could assemble one from readily available parts. They actually used a surplus howitzer and sealed the end of it. Part of the uranium was at the end of the barrel, and the other end was where the shell goes. You need a machinist with a metalworking lathe you can get anywhere. The gun is available surplus for cheap. You need someone to do the electronics to act as a timer so you can get away (or not). And that's really all there is to it. They showed parts list and prices. It was like $5 million. And 80% of that was the enriched uranium.

brian

It is dependent on the type of material you are using. Uranium is more easily detonated, assuming you have enough of the material- which is a LOT. Uranium 235 requires a least 64 kilograms, if they could acquire 233, it'd be at least 16 kgs.

If the material is plutonium or an insufficient amount of uranium (which is most likely to happen) then they would go with a dirty bomb.

You have to realize that terrorists don't have time on their side. Once they acquire something useful, they would have to use it immediately out of fear it would be discovered. Countries monitor their nuclear material down to the milligram. They would take notice at 64 kilograms going missing. That isn't easy to pull off.

 

[Standing_Ultraviolet]

Any country that supplied Al Qaida with weapons grade uranium would know what it was being used for, and that in the end, no matter how much they disliked America, they would have the hammer slammed down on them if anyone ever found out. Nothing says "invade my country and cart me off to a war crimes tribunal" quite like selling fissionable material to a terrorist organization.

A dirty bomb, they would be more likely to use. Eventually one of those probably willbe used by a terrorist group like Al Qaida, and that's a scary thing to think about when it comes right down to it. An explosive is terrifying enough, but something like that can kill you after you've gotten away

 

[PHenry42]

Actually, it's not difficult at all. All the required pieces and parts can be acquired on the black market, or even on ebay. It's getting the enriched uranium or plutonium that's the hard part. Also, making the device small enough to put on a missile takes some technology. But the pakistanis did it.

All you really need to do is have two quantities of uranium that together equal critical mass. Then you need some explosives to force them together at high temperatures. Then you get a nuclear detonation. That's it.

I was watching a documentary the other day that detailed how someone could assemble one from readily available parts. They actually used a surplus howitzer and sealed the end of it. Part of the uranium was at the end of the barrel, and the other end was where the shell goes. You need a machinist with a metalworking lathe you can get anywhere. The gun is available surplus for cheap. You need someone to do the electronics to act as a timer so you can get away (or not). And that's really all there is to it. They showed parts list and prices. It was like $5 million. And 80% of that was the enriched uranium.

brian

If it really were that easy, Iran would have got a nuclear arsenal a long time ago, rather than having had to spend years upon years on it and still not (as far as publicly known) be done.

 

[Brak]

And Iraq was "just about" to build a nuclear bomb, too. Heard that one before.

 

[Standing_Ultraviolet]

If it really were that easy, Iran would have got a nuclear arsenal a long time ago, rather than having had to spend years upon years on it and still not (as far as publicly known) be done.

Actually, basic fusion bombs are frighteningly easy to build (at least in a relative sense) if you have weapons grade uranium. The uranium is incredibly hard to get, because it requires expensive facilities that only a handful of countries have. Those take time and effort to build. That's why every terrorist organization on Earth hasn't gotten their hands on nuclear weapons yet, and why they probably never will (at least, not true nuclear weapons).

That's also part of why everyone's so afraid of Iran getting the capability to enrich uranium, since they might be less scrupulous about who they sell it to than other countries (I say 'might' because uranium is easy to trace back to who made it; therefore, if anyone ever found uranium with a terrorist group, they could trace it back, and whoever sold it would not be having a good day).