(Reuters) - 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."He's talking about a dirty bomb.
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."
"These nuclear materials, despite the limited amounts mentioned, can enable terrorist groups, with the availability of the required expertise, to use it separate or in combination with other materials in its terrorist acts," said Alhakim.
He warned that they could also be smuggled out of Iraq.
The inhuman animals that makeup the organization known as ISIS has nuclear material.
If somehow they smuggled this stuff into Europe, famous landmarks could become major cleanup sites for years.
Same for the United States.
This might be turning into a an issue that must be solved with a B-2 dropping a MOAB.
UPDATE: This article by Defense One now makes much more sense....Hagel Declares ISIL Clear and ‘Imminent Threat’ To U.S.
Question is what type of uranium that was. If it was a low quality uranium used mainly in academic science research then that's not a problem, it has the same "power" as depleted uranium rounds that if you like you would found pretty large number in the sands of Iraq.
ReplyDeleteBut if it's more energetic version, it's time that ONZ go in to action and secure it. Don't mess in this fight but only capture and secure it.
This might be the result of the time or lack of coffee this am, but...
ReplyDeleteThe ISIS leadership is retarded! The are rampaging through Iraq destroying holy site after holy site, enraging Shia and risk pulling in more moderate Muslims. Then the go and secure nuclear material? The world as a whole would have probably let them continue on their terror campaign, because well its Iraq, and no one cares anymore, but it wasn't really impacting anyone other than the Iraqis. Now they are pissing all over the Muslim world and essentially daring the West into action. There is nothing worse than an idiot.radical with a gun.... Maybe we should give them a close up demonstration of what to do with that uranium?
i've been chewing on this all morning.
Deletemy guess is that this has been known since ISIS took over parts of Iraq. they didn't inform the public because we all would have demanded at the very least air strikes.
now?
probably too late.
we have amateurs in the State Dept and DoD.
There's no threat, the material isn't weapons grade or even hot. This is the sort of stuff you can hold in your hand without gloves, you wouldn't want to swallow or inhale it but it's not going to cause significant contamination to anything you expose to it.
ReplyDeleteIf if it was wrapped it around a bomb you'd have to close the scene for a few days so the radioactive debris could be picked up and the site given a once over with a pressure washer, the biggest risk would probably come from a hysterical response from the public.
And as described in this fact sheet:
Delete"Immediate health effects from exposure to the low radiation levels expected from [a dirty bomb] would likely be minimal."
So its main effect would be to create feelings of terror.
Exactly, the word nuclear scares the shit out of everyone, the definition of terrorism is to cause terror and there aren't many better ways of doing that than convincing people that they may be or have been exposed to something that they can't see and can kill them. The principal is similar to the anthrax letter scare of the early 2000s.
DeleteThere's no real threat of widespread contamination or even any deaths by radiation poisoning or associated cancers, but perhaps the fear factor will be enough for ISIS
Isn't that what they want? To cause fear in the population?
DeleteEven if they only 1 person die with the bomb... Imagine the chaos it would cause...
"you wouldn't want to swallow or inhale it"
ReplyDeleteLike people would if it was wrapped in a kilo of high explosives and detonated?
Perhaps, but since a victim would be unlikely to inhale more than a fraction of a gram and they'd be taken to hospital for observation I think it'd be highly unlikely that any victim would be exposed to a dangerous dose.
DeleteWash it off, wash it down a drain into a closed system then paint the area in lead paint.
ReplyDeleteI bet what happens is,
1. These guys have a work accident and blow their balls off while slightly irradiating their penis.
2. The put it together and it fizzles enough to show the IDF where it is for a follow up strike, irradiating their penis again.
3. It gets to Israel and goes off creating terror, a heart attack or three, then in massive response the IDF goes Medieval on their asses.
4. The stuff sits around hidden and endangers every one around it and shortens their lives by ten years.