"Iraq Has Notified The U.N That The Terror Group ISIS..." Topic

… Now Has The Materials To Construct A 'Dirty Bomb'.

"Insurgents in Iraq have seized nuclear materials used for scientific research at a university in the country's north, Iraq told the United Nations in a letter appealing for help to "stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad."

Nearly 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of uranium compounds were kept at Mosul University, Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the July 8 letter obtained by Reuters on Wednesday.

"Terrorist groups have seized control of nuclear material at the sites that came out of the control of the state," Alhakim wrote, adding that such materials "can be used in manufacturing weapons of mass destruction."…"
Full article here
link

A truly nightmare!

Amicalement
Armand

And the hits just keep on comin'…

:(

"Experts" say that the material they got from a university is not weapons-grade and it it very unlikely that it can be used to create a WMD from it. It should also be kept in mind that Iraq wants to convice the UN that they need to be supported against ISIS, so it's possible that the threat is overstated.

Cherno

It doesn't need to be weapons grade material. A few pounds of uranium scrap added to a conventional large car or truck IED will still contaminate an area and cause major decontamination problems.

Malibu Max

Note that as well as being radioactive Uranium is as a toxic heavy metal

Ditybombis insomeways worse thana "clean" nuke.

I wonder if they'rehandlingitproperlyor is inthe backof someone's technical? If soacruise missle would be very,very effective atmakingthemglow.

I'msureit was kept withtheintentionofpersonaluse,Mr globalpoliceofficer,sir.

Trust us, we're scientists!

Who gave Iraq Uranium?

Twelve years of war in and around Mosul and nobody thought of securing the uranium before this?

Just what were we doing the past decade in Iraq, anyway?

I'm guessing that the Iraqi Army was guarding that facility in Mosul. Up until ISIS attacked and most of them ran away.

this is going to be UGLY. I wonder who's going to get hit with 40kg of reactor fuel? (I'm assuming minimally enriched Uranium here, call it 5% easily-fissionable U235) I'm halfway expecting Israel to be on the receiving end.

About all we can hope for is that the ISIS folks aren't taking proper handling precautions so that they're dying from radiation poisoning.

As Cherno noted, based on "experts" on CNN, etc., there is not enough refined, etc. to be used in a Nuc or even a dirty bomb … Regardless … The so called lunatic fringe of the islamic world continues their "wilding" spree worldwide … And possibly sooner of later one of the plethora of moslem loony nutcases is going to get a nuc … and then we'll all ask why didn't we do something before this happened ? We're the good guys, we worry about collateral damage, etc. … the islamists don't, or so it appears … To again quote my favorite movie General – General "Buck" Turgidson: "Mr. President, I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than ten to twenty million killed, tops. Uh, depending on the breaks."

-Shrug- We let companies over here dump toxic chemicals into the soil and drinking water all the time. Just let them incorporate in the US and no one will bat an eye if a dirty bomb goes off. :)

"I'm halfway expecting Israel to be on the receiving end."

While none of the violence is justified, so far it has been very once sided. I don't think Israel will be hit with this material – if it turns out to be useful in a dirty bomb.

Palestinian TV has depicted ISIS in a parody, implying they are gay (I suppose that refers to the recent fatwah allowing Jihad by the back door), and being allied with Israel.

Has someone posted an analysis on whether this Uranium makes a better weapon than available alternatives? I guess the alternatives are biological, chemical and conventional weapons. Someone could set up on Golan, wait for the wind to go the right way, and send balloons with some kind of payload off across Israel. The Japanese did something similar, but ineffective, during WW2.

Right now ISIS are on one side of Golan and the Israelis on the other.

Wait … so you mean two moslem factions don't get along ??!?! But they both hate Israel !?!

"But they both hate Israel !?!"

Well, that is the question.

Dirty bombs are way over stated as a great threat.

They cost more money to clean up, but death toll is more or less the same.

Dirty bombs are way over stated as a great threat.

They cost more money to clean up, but death toll is more or less the same.

This is very interesting. Please tell me more about this. Just the additional clean up cost alone is something over conventional weapons. Add to that the psychological impact of people worried about what they touch, wear, eat.

But is this Uranium something you can make a dirty bomb out of?

US network news was reporting that it was not weapons-grade material. I kinda saw this as missing the point- mixing even mildly-enriched uranium into a VBIED will be a serious pain to clean up, and the psychological effects, as Chortle stated, cannot be understated.

Good thing our Southern Border is secure, since if such an attack were to occur, the politicians in charge will have to make a "run for the border" themselves to avoid the severe ire of the citizenry.

Wonder if they'll use it in a bomb, just poison the water reservoirs, or both?

San Diego, L.A., Houston, and Phoenix seem like sitting ducks to me.

88 pounds held at a university. Unrefined. It takes tons of the unrefined stuff plus a lot of equipment to refine weapons grade uranium. If this 88 pounds gets used in a dirty bomb, other than the blast and the associated terror, the "dirtiness" is actually pretty minimal.

88 pounds held at a university. Unrefined. It takes tons of the unrefined stuff plus a lot of equipment to refine weapons grade uranium. If this 88 pounds gets used in a dirty bomb, other than the blast and the associated terror… clean up costs

With absolutely no indication as to what type of material is involved its impossible to determine whether there is a threat or not. If its medical or research material, then the threat would be near zero. Oh, you could build a 'dirty' bomb with that kind of stuff but the effect from the radiation wouldn't be enough to cause panic. That said, I can't blame the Iraqis for crying 'wolf!'; in their situation, I'd do the same thing.

It's my understanding that dirty bombs aren't very effective at damaging people.
The wider you spread the radioactive material the lower the exposure an individual suffers. Low levels of radiation increase your risk of cancer slightly.
A 1% higher chance of getting cancer is not great but it might not even equate to that.
People choose to run higher risks by over-eating, smoking, not exercising etc etc.

It's not necessarily the death count which heaven knows is threat enough, it's the cost and disruption in sealing off and clearing up an attack. Imagine the panic in a major city if it was announced. Scotland Yardvwork on the principle of when, not if!

Either way you look at it it's a major cause for concern

"But they both hate Israel !?!"

Well, that is the question.

No Chortle … it was a sarcastic remark … I'm pretty sure most if not all of the jihadist factions hate Israel, and the US and many other "infidel" countries, nations, regions, etc. … So many to hate, so little time to kill them all … They should put that on a jihadist t-shirt …

I agree as many noted here, when it comes to nuclear materials, it is better to err on the side of caution. It might come down to by the time you know for sure … it will be too late … And if no one made the observation, generally the UN has about as much influence on jihadists as my mailman does …

At this rate, we'll have to soon change from "the terror group ISIS" to "the regional government ISIS"

The real problem with a dirty bomb is that it puts all that uranium dust into the air.

Quick lesson in radioactivity, submariners call it the cookie analogy: You have 4 cookies (alpha, beta, gamma, and neutron), and can put one in your pocket, hold one in your hand, eat one, and throw one away.

The alpha cookie you can hold in your hand because alpha particles are stopped by the first layer of skin.

The Beta cookie you want to put in your pocket because beta particles are stopped by clothes.

You can eat the gamma cookie, because the gamma rays will go right through you without stopping and causing damage, anyway.

You want to throw the neutron cookie away because the neutrons WILL stop in your body and cause damage.

How's this translate to 'dirty bomb' damage? Well, even unrefined uranium ORE is primarily a alpha emitter, so breathing the dust will expose you to a LOT of radioactivity. Worse, uranium likes to accumulate in the bones, for a continuous, long-term exposure. Even better, uranium is toxic even when you disregard the radioactivity. link

So, yes, a uranium dirty bomb would be a horrific thing to deal with.

Thanks for the info Lion!

Amicalement
Armand

More a "look at ISIS with nuclear material!" That way you don't see us cut so called "Prostitutes" throats on street corners in Baghdad. Can we nuke both sides from orbit and be done with the nonsense?

Truely … the murder of the "sex-workers" by a Shia' group, according to CNN. Which may or may not like ISIS or the Kurds or the Sunnis or the Assyrians or everyone else whose is not like them, infidels, ancient statues, etc., etc…. More and more it seems, like to paraphase an old soldier, "The only good one is a dead one … "

Remember what a little talcum powder did to the nation during the anthrax envelope days?

People panicked just the same. Everything shut down because of fear. The terrorist's work was done – and mostly by the news media, who were all too eager to be the first to report every single rumor before they were even investigated properly. Strange symbiosis.

Dan