Dirty Bombs Made Simple

Government Report Shows How Easy It Can Be To Obtain Nuclear Material To Build A Dirty Bomb

(CBS)  With terrorists interested in obtaining nuclear material to build a dirty bomb, a new report shows how dangerously simple it could really be, reports CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson.

According to the Government Accountability Office, their undercover agents easily got a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to legally buy radioactive materials.

They did it in just 28 days by creating a dummy corporation that never had any offices or employees. Nobody from the NRC even checked to see if the company really existed, adds Attkisson.

What's more, they used off-the-shelf computer software anyone can purchase and easily counterfeited the license to remove limits on how much material they could buy. Then they bought enough to build a "moderately sized dirty bomb, all without leaving their desks." And they say they could have gotten substantially more.

The NRC acknowledges the license was bought and forged but tells CBS News that the dirty bomb scenario was not really feasible because it would have cost millions to actually build. And the bomb would have contained the radiation equivalent to a CAT scan to the chest and stomach.

The problem is determined and well-funded terrorists would not have stopped when the government investigators did. The NRC is concerned enough that it has already completed a serious revision of procedure.

From now on, anyone applying for a license to buy nuclear material will get a face to face meeting with regulators to make sure they are who they say they are.

[lars008-2009]

name one fascist nazi terrorislam state that grants equal rights to non muslims???

[rootcauses]

Wait. Stopped by lack of a license? I think not. Americium-241 is available far too easily and cheaply: collect old smoke detectors, each of which has up to 0.2 grams of the stuff. Heck, set up a bunch of bogus recycling drop off boxes and folks will collect them for you. Scared? I am.

[michellem99-2009]

The funny farm yep and they want their 15 min fame and they get if they die in the process.

[cfin5]

What's wrong with this media wanting to write an article like this? As if we don't already have enough Happy Farm qualifiers on the loose.

[michellem99-2009]

Somebody said the SWATS teams. Yep. They blow things up not thinking what it is. Not very smart but they may be the cause. There has to be a better way.

[lars008-2009]

name one fascist nazi terrorislam state that grants equal rights to non muslims???

[cbs_oliver]

"The NRC .... tells CBS News that the dirty bomb scenario was not really feasible because it would have cost millions to actually build. And the bomb would have contained the radiation equivalent to a CAT scan to the chest and stomach."

I'm glad to see that they finally got around to pointing that out.

Next we may have an article about using radioactive material from smoke detectors!

Some media and propaganda folks really want to scare us up, don't they?

[shermanwatts]

This article misses the most important point about dirty bombs - That point is that the terroists do NOT even have to have an explosion.

SWAT Teams and Bomb Squads will blow up the material free of charge. Terroists just put the material in a strange package in a strange place and the bomb squad will blow it up as a suspicious package. In doing so, they will spread the nuke material around to cause millions of people to be evacuated from that area for 5000 years - thus causing trillions of dollars of damage.
Our SWAT teams and Bomb squads are actually worse than terroists and should be disbanded immediately. DUMB DUMB DUMB.

[lars008-2009]

NOW CAN WE KILL THEM???
If they can kill us, we can kill them

Qaeda warns of attacks 'worse than 9/11'
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070530102648.wuwa6k96&show_article=1

Hizbullah Deputy Sec-Gen Sheikh Naim Qassem: We Have Jurisprudent Permission to Carry Out 'Martyrdom' Operations, Fire Missiles on Israeli Civilians From Ayatollah Khomeini
http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD154907

Switching Sides: Inside The Enemy Camp

But then in 2000, well before his arrest, something happened which would make Abas question everything he believed in: a fatwa, a religious edict, was issued by Osama bin Laden.

"It should be understood that killing Americans and Jews anywhere found are the highest act of worship and the highest form of good deeds in the eyes of Allah," Simon quotes bin Laden.

Abas and his fellow commanders were ordered to read the fatwa to their men and make sure they carried it out. The others obeyed, but Abas refused. It was his moment of truth. He firmly believed that jihad was to be fought only on the battlefield in defense of Islam; he had always been taught that the killing of civilians had nothing to do with holy war and that it was forbidden.

The fatwa justified killing non-Muslim civilians everywhere.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/04/60minutes/main2761108.shtml?source=RSSattr=60Minutes_2761108
American Al Qaeda Member Threatens Attack
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/29/terror/main2865282.shtml

[nothappyatall]

"From now on, anyone applying for a license to buy nuclear material will get a face to face meeting with regulators to make sure they are who they say they are. "

Oh YEAH that'll stop em cold, just because we know who they are and confirm their identity, gee, what about the DOCTORS involved in the recent terror event who were arrested later?
They were DOCTORS, it doesn't matter who the person is it's their INTENTIONS not their name that counts!

[hypnotoad72]

gkc99 - good point. Weren't there some chaps from India detained by Australia recently, in connection to that UK terror probe?

[gkc99]

"And just keep those borders wide open so the wrong illegals can get through and carry out an attack. "

Bull. They'll come in on a student visa and have a graduate assistantship at one of our best universities, thanks to the H1B visa program and the college professor lust for lab slaves.

[cantshutup]

wonder if this has anything to do with Chertoff's "GUT FEELING"...btw...chertoff has dual israeli citizenship...nice huh? anyone else think he looks like Boris Badanov from Rocky and Bullwinkle???

[olebd]

And just keep those borders wide open so the wrong illegals can get through and carry out an attack.

[michellem99-2009]

As computer user there are dos and donts that one must abide to. I am licensed legally and therefore obey its rules. The same with software but there again I don't allow anyone but me to use computer that I have.
So why have this nanny govt not been/be mindful in this issue all long. Too lazy. Did they not learn any thing from 9/11. They should step upto the plate right then tighted the NRC.They sbould have. Will they do it.

[shanev137]

Here, here's how you do it. It's almost like the Bush administration wished someone would build one and set it off. Oh yea, and keep giving the other side new weapons ideas and showing them what we have with your 24/7 Military Channel on cable TV. Way to keep that profitable terror threat up. Republicans are such morons.

[feelfree1]

There we have it. We see the fascist traitor, Michael Chertoff, announcing a "Gut Feeling" About "terrorist" Attack, and an aknowledgement of the ease of obtaining radioactive material.

If we see a "dirty-bomb" attack, anytime in the near future, Chertoff and his fellow treasonous ghouls will be my top suspects.

[middleman8]

Ya it sure would be hell if one of these picked on countries got a "dirty bomb" to strike back with. That wouldn't be fair at all, we are the good guys, RIGHT?