Naked Science Forum

General Science => General Science => Topic started by: Ian Scott on 23/07/2008 18:20:31

Title: How easy is it to make a Dirty Bomb?
Post by: Ian Scott on 23/07/2008 18:20:31

It seems that Plutonium is easy to get and can be used to poison people as in the news. I also read of people placing uranium spheres together to create a nuclear reaction in their hands. They all die of course.

Nuclear  material is lost regularly and reported - how easy would it be for people to make a simple dirty bomb - sub fissionable.

We might not even know as we are not equipped to detect radiation

_{Mod edit - formatted the subject as a question.  Please try to do this to help keep the forum tidy and easy to navigate - thanks!}

Title: Re: How easy is it to make a Dirty Bomb?
Post by: RD on 23/07/2008 18:23:46

Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned using Polonium (210), not Plutonium.

Title: Re: How easy is it to make a Dirty Bomb?
Post by: Bored chemist on 23/07/2008 19:58:29

It wouldn't be that difficult to produce a "dirty bomb" you could steal a radioactive source from somewhere and spread it about with explosives. However, apart from the panic, it wouldn't be very effective. The last thing I heard was that, for the most part, the authorities would just have to wait for the rain to wash the stuff away.

Title: Re: How easy is it to make a Dirty Bomb?
Post by: rosalind dna on 23/07/2008 21:14:28

When the rain washes the dirty bomb stuff that it might contain
would have got into the air but also the drinking water and grass, plants. In fact everything that is normal to our every day stuff.

Title: Re: How easy is it to make a Dirty Bomb?
Post by: Ian Scott on 23/07/2008 22:08:53

yes Rosalind it won't magically disappear as you say. Radiation will hang about for many thousands years and we will eat it through food.

It is likely we will experience dirty bomb attacks soon so having a radiation indicator might be a good idea - say to check out a supermarket or another.

Title: Re: How easy is it to make a Dirty Bomb?
Post by: Ian Scott on 23/07/2008 22:25:01

Further the ingestion aspect shows why an instantaneous radiation detector is needed to test food - an accumulated dose is not very usefull!

Very small amounts of polonium cause death when shawoled - "Plutoniam" sounds so much more super mannish and makes me gooey - no it doesn't

Title: Re: How easy is it to make a Dirty Bomb?
Post by: rosalind dna on 23/07/2008 23:27:45

There is nothing macho as you put it Ian when Alexander Litvinenko
literally faded away after he'd been poisoned with POLONIUM 210
also he was a British citizen by the time he died.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Litvinenko_poisoning

Title: Re: How easy is it to make a Dirty Bomb?
Post by: Ian Scott on 23/07/2008 23:49:38

sorry you misread me